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REVELATIONS OF 
A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Ten Years of German -American Diplomacy 

BY 

EMIL WITTE 

LATE COUNCILLOR OF LEGATION AT WASHINGTON 
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN 




NEW YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



.(■0 S3 I 



COPYRIGHT, 1916, 
By GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



JUL 31 1916 ■■ 



PUBLISHED IN LEIPZIG, IQOy 
PRINTED IN TEE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

I916 1 

©CU4370.17 



I VTICODT TTTON TO i . . . ^^ \ 

vANSI.ATION 

'im. c*\|"' 'I I in:! \\ :itc \' .1 :i t tie ' (I m.in riii- 

Ui--v at . ^lon ami ihc lM»rcif;n OtVicc at Berlin, 

I 7, have too long been hidden from the Ameri- 

can jx. 'i^le, wlioin they i » cni, in the black text 

of a dennan volume puLi i l^'ipzig in 1907. But 

such is the intimate view they pivc of the inside work- 
ings of the (ierman - Herr von Holle- 
Ix'n and the intrigue- ..^ » ^ i.v .cvotion of the sons 
of Germany to their American fealty, that their pub- 
lication in English is singularly timely to^lay. 

the t "cs are .ily set 

forth in the text. It may be explained, however, that 

the world is ' ' ' ' 1 for the reinarkal)lc pen 
pictures he h. ^ 1 and affairs in the l'nite<l 

States during the period of his experiences. And if 
there is the spice (»f bittenu-^s in what he writes of 
some of his countrymen, ami if he very often errs in 
his judgment of the acts and motives of some Ameri- 
cans with whom he comes in contact, it must Ik» rcmem- 
*M-red that he had a deep grievance against Herr von 

U)llel)cn. that he felt that he had been "used and 

'»used" by the German Foreign Office, that out of 
the (juarrels of conspira! ' * n and that 

he harl only a foreigner Ige of the 

nderlying spirit and characteristics of Americans. 
There are many things in this NM»k relating to Amer- 

.111 null and aflairs tliat have to l>e taken with more 



vi INTRODUCTION 

than a grain of salt, but generally Herr Witte's obser- 
vations bear the stamp of veracity, warped by the 
wrongs and prejudices of the writer. He was more 
familiar with the German side of what he saw and 
heard in the United States, and it is for what he has 
revealed of this that his book is most valuable. 

It should be remembered to the credit of Herr Witte 
that at the opening of the Spanish-American war he 
was one of the editors of the Deutsche Zeihing at 
Vienna and also about the only editor in the central 
empires to advocate the cause of the United States. 

As the reader turns page after page of this volume, 
disclosing German plottings against the singleness of 
American allegiance, he will understand why the book 
became so scarce that the Fortnightly Review sug- 
gested that the German government bought up and 
destroyed all the copies it could lay hands on. 

The translation into English was made by Flor- 
ence Clarkson Taylor, whose familiarity with the 
newspaper German of Herr Witte was supplemented 
by that of Dr. Francis Payne Mason, both of them 
having spent many years in Germany. 

Slason Thompson. 



PREFACE 

Up to the period of the Spanish-American war beau- 
tiful Washington had been considered as a buen re tiro 
for well-deserving diplomats who had a claim to a 
quiet and comfortable little resting place. Since the 
beginning of the imperialistic era of the United States, 
however, Washington has become an important storm 
centre of world politics and the Powers of the Old 
World carefully consider this change in conditions. 
They now appoint only their best men, men familiar 
with all cjuestions of international politics and trade, 
to represent their interests at the seat of the American 
Federal Government. 

As in all other fields of public life, the reckless go- 
ahead spirit, to which the American Republic owes 
its world power, shows itself in its relations with the 
representatives of the Old World. The diplomats in 
long-tailed coats and knee breeches, before they be- 
come acclimated and learn to appreciate at their full 
value the ''shirt-sleeve," ''Rough-Rider" methods of 
their American colleagues, frequently pay a bitter price 
for their experience. 

It was given to me, during the critical time which 
followed the close of the Spanish-American war, to 
be entrusted with numerous important missions by the 
German Embassy in Washington and, through my 
position of confidential agent to the Ambassador in 
matters relating to the newspaper press, to obtain an 
astounding insight into the secret goings-on, the be- 
hind the scenes, so to speak, of German and Ameri- 



viii PREFACE 

can diplomac}-. I likewise had opportunit}' to study 
at first hand the sordid machinations of a coterie of 
self-seeking men who attempted to disturb the good 
understanding existing between the United States and 
Germany. 

In the pages of this book the public will learn for 
the first time the absolute imvarnished truth regard- 
ing the relations existing bet^veen the t^vo countries 
and the attempt of a powerful and corrupt press to 
interfere with them on both sides of the ocean. 

Who in Germany, for instance, knows that the 
much-lauded visit of Prince Henr}', which officially 
was supposed to have added to and cemented the 
friendly relations existing betv^-een the German Empire 
and the United States, as a matter of fact terminated 
in a diplomatic incident? — A diplomatic incident pur- 
posely produced and amounting to a deadly affront 
to the honour of the German nation, an incident which 
would have had a less shameful ending if a man like 
Bismarck had been Imperial Chancellor instead of 
Prince von Biilow? To whom is it known that the 
German ambassador. Dr. von Holleben, was forced 
to leave the Federal Capital under conditions so shame- 
ful and disparaging that the history of no other coun- 
try shows their equal? Who knows that all this was 
done to make room for a man whose principal, if not 
exclusive, service is his personal friendship with the 
present Rough Rider President of the United States? 
For a man upon whose diplomatic abilities no German 
paper up to date set a proper valuation except "Sim- 
plicissimus," whose famous cartoon has been amply 
justified ! 

To whom is it kno\sTi that after, and in spite of, these 
discouraging experiences the German Emperor and 
the Confederation of German Princes have renewed 



PREFx\CE ix 

relations with the German emigrants to America, 
who at one time were despised as renegades? And 
that while this rapprochement may appear highly de- 
sirable and commendable from the Imperial and all- 
GERMAX standpoint, it is viewed in quite a different 
light by official circles in America? 

He who has followed with an unprejudiced eye the 
course of events since the Spanish- American war can- 
not but conclude that a continuation of this policy 
of deceiving the public mind and suppressing the truth 
will bear bitter fruit. Some day these tw^o peoples, 
racially descended from the same stock, will have to 
ladle out the soup that is now being prepared for them 
by selfish interests. 

It has not been an easy matter for me to write and 
give to the world this book, containing as it does the 
sum of my obsen-ations and experiences in the sen-ice 
of the Imperial German Embassy in ^^'ashington. In 
it I have frankly called persons and things by their 
real names, taking the standpoint that a danger once 
known is a danger half defeated. 

jNIay the German and American peoples learn the 
truth, and wreck the schemes of those "dark men of 
honour" who would plunge the two coimtries into an 
unholy war, before it is too late. 

Charlottenburg. Tegeler-Weg 103 

September, 1907. 

emil Wittt, 



COXTENTS 



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X "^^^r W».4r4 Mi^-T'i^ Hrizzsn A3aTTT 




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CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

XXI. Puzzles and Politics 



XXII. "Hands Across the Sea" 

XXIII. Some Social Organizations 

XXIV. And— The Future? 
XXV. Shall I Be Vindicated—? 



PAGE 

213 
223 

239 

250 



REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 



REVELATIONS OF A 
GERMAN ATTACHE 



CHAPTER I 

THE EMBASSY AND THE PRESS 

The I2th of March, 1902. — What was telegraphed to the 
Philadelphia North American from the Federal Capital. — 
"Has Washington demanded von Holleben's Recall ?" — The 
New York papers appear in extra editions. — The General 
Manager of the "Associated Press" requests an interview 
for the press. — I send a request to Dr. Mantler, chief of 
the Wolff Telegraph Bureau, to see me. — "Keep a stiff 
upper lip !" 

In New York about midday of the 12th of March, 
1902, the electric bell in my front room rang violently 
and a man stood before me with his card, on which 
was engraved the name of ''Mr. Egan, Special Cor- 
respondent of the Associated Press/' He drew from 
his pocket a newspaper whose large-typed extra still 
smelled of fresh ink, and pointed with his forefinger 
to the striking headlines. 

''I have a message from our general director, Mr. 
Melville Stone, who begs you to give your views on 
this subject through the Associated Press." 

I took the sheet curiously from his hand and began 
to read. I could hardly believe my eyes! What I 
saw there, in giant type, was the equivalent of a decla- 
ration of war against the German Empire ! ! I herewith 
give the notice as received by the German official wire, 

15 



i6 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

which the correspondents of German newspapers in 
New York transmitted, first in English and then in 
German translation. 

"N. Y. (Evening) World, 5th Edition, Wednesday, March 
12, 1902. 

HAS WASHINGTON ASKED VON HOLLEBEN'S 
RECALL? 

REPORT THAT THE GERMAN AMBASSADOR HAS RECEIVED HIS 

PASSPORTS AND BEEN ORDERED TO LEAVE THE 

COUNTRY IN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. 



Philadelphia, Pa., March 12, 



"The North American to-day publishes the following spe- 
cial despatch from its Washington correspondent: 

"Not since the historic De Lome incident, v^hich had its 
part in the beginning of the Spanish-American war, has 
Washington been so stirred as by the rumour to-night that one 
of the foreign ambassadors has been informed that he must 
leave the country. 

"Though only a rumour, and though denied formally, but 
without enthusiasm, at the State Department, the impression 
persists, and is embellished with details. 

"vON HOLLEBEN SAID TO BE THE MAN 

"Ambassador von Holleben, of Germany, is the foreign 
representative who is said to have displeased the United 
States Government so seriously that he has received his 
passports. According to report, the incident v/ill net lead 
to a rupture in the relations between the two countries. A 
gentleman who is in a position to learn at an early moment 
any important developments said to the North American cor- 
respondent to-night: 

"An ambassador has received his passports, and has been 
told to leave the country within forty-eight hours. I will not 
disclose his identity; the whole story will be known in a day 
or two. The time allowed to him has been extended from 
forty-eight hours to thirty days. 

"intriguing in corporation AFFAIRS 

"There will be no international complications. The Am- 
bassador has been intriguing in the affairs of some corpo- 



THE EMBASSY AND THE PRESS 17 

rations, and it is probable that an apology will be tendered 
by his government in due time, thus closing the incident. 

"These statements were repeated to Secretary of State 
Hay to-night, and he was asked whether it was true that 
Ambassador von Holleben had been invited to return to 
Germany. The Secretary denied it. 

"It was told by another official that von Holleben had 
intended returning with Prince Henry, but had deferred his 
departure thirty days." 

To appreciate the full meaning of the foregoing 
telegram, one must bear in mind that the despatch 
appeared less than twenty- four hours after the depar- 
ture of Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the Ger- 
man Emperor, who started on his homeward journey 
March nth. It was a deadly insult to the German 
Emperor, a provocation without example, which un- 
doubtedly would have serious consequences for the 
amiable relations between the German Empire and the 
United States of America. 

I returned the sheet to Mr. Egan, who was looking 
at me curiously. With an artificial appearance of un- 
concern, which in reality I was far from feeling, I 
replied : 

'T am surprised that Mr. Melville Stone should 
remember me. May I ask, before I give you an an- 
swer, how he got my address ?" 

Mr. Egan raised his eyebrows and thought a mo- 
ment. "I shall commit no indiscretion by telling you. 
Mr. Stone got your address from Washington." 

"Allow me one more question, Mr. Egan. When did 
you see Dr. Mantler last?" 

Dr. Mantler is the general director of the semi- 
official Wolff's Telegraph Office in Berlin, who was 
in the suite of Prince Henry and made the American, 
tour with him, and who remained in New York for 
a short time after the Prince's departure. 



i8 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

"I saw Dr. Mantler before I came to you!'* 

"Then I must ask you to present my compliments 
to Mr. Melville Stone and say to him that for the 
present I prefer not to express my views. And will 
you kindly say to Dr. Mantler that I shall expect 
a visit from him to-day?" 

Mr. Egan's expression suddenly changed. "I will 
tell you," he remarked, *'that some deviltry is on foot, 
whose origin and purport are unknown to me, but it 
seems to me that they are trying to draw you into the 
affair, and I advise you to keep a stiff upper lip. 

"As a correspondent of the Associated Press I 
accompanied the Prince in his travels over the whole 
country and he made a very pleasant impression on 
me, as well as all the other newspaper men. But as 
for your ambassador, Mr. von Holleben — Oh ! what a 
funny little man ! When he used to pass through the 
car reserved for the correspondents on the special 
train he always waited for us to rise, stand stiffly 
and bow, and he would get fiery red and as angry as 
a turkey cock if we did not do so." 

Mr. Egan, who later, during the Russo-Japanese 
war, went to Tokio for the Associated Press, left with 
a friendly word and the promise to faithfully give my 
message to Mr. Stone and also to Dr. Mantler. 

The hours went by and Dr. Mantler did not come. 
The interests of the Empire were offered up for per- 
sonal revenge and the mischief ran its course. 

How near the German people were, during these 
eventful days, to war with the United States will be 
learned through these disclosures. 



CHAPTER II 

"oh, these simple Americans!" 

"Oh, these simple Americans !" Naive conception of Ameri- 
can naivete among German diplomats. — Announcement of 
Prince Henry's American visit. — Expression of the old, 
"historic friendship" between the German and American 
peoples. — Serious illness of the President's eldest son. — 
The Prince comes, though Washington warns him off. — 
His triumphal procession through the United States. — 
"Dear fatherland, may peace be thine !" — What did the 
chief of the Federal secret service report to Washing- 
ton? — The imperial yacht HohenBollern steams out of New 
York harbour before the appointed time. 

''These Americans are so naive; there is no halt 
which they will not eagerly swallow if it is only offered 
them with a friendly smile and sufficiently sugared T 
This sentiment was often expressed by an intimate 
friend of Herr von Holleben during the time I had 
the honour to be attached to the embassy for press 
matters, and it is characteristic of the comprehension 
that the men in that circle of German diplomacy enter- 
tained of the statesmen of the New World, and which 
led to so many fatal mistakes. After a succession of 
unpleasant incidents — one has only to remember the 
Dewey-Diederichs episode in the Bay of Manila, the 
unfortunate Samoa affair, the Coghlan intermezzo 
(Hoch der Kaiser) and the Venezuela imbroglio — sud- 
denly Berlin diplomacy remembered the old "historic 
friendship" which had bound the Prussians, from the 
days of Frederick the Great, to the United States, 
and laid stress on the fact that the North American 

19 



20 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Republic had no truer and more honourable friend 
than the German Empire. And to assure this fact 
to the world in general, and America in particular, the 
announcement was made that Prince Henry would tour 
the United States of America. 

The official American world rubbed its eyes in aston- 
ishment. The telegram which contained the first news 
of the approaching visit was like lightning from a 
clear sky. The "yellow" press, just at this time, was 
conducting a furious war dance against Germany, 
whom it accused of having evil intentions against the 
Monroe Doctrine, and in Washington the tourist 
swarms daily passed by the German Legation and 
pointed with their fingers to the officials who were vis- 
ible behind the barred windows and of whom the guides 
usually remarked : "Those are the representatives of 
the Power with which we will have our next war and 
which we will thrash the way we did the Spaniards." 

Was it to be wondered at that official Washington 
could not be brought to believe in the newly discovered 
"historic friendship" between Germany and the United 
States, and ascribed other motives to Prince Henry's 
visit than those which had been given out? A test 
was made, and the severe illness of the President's son, 
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., taken as an excuse for the 
following telegram, which I give exactly as it appeared 
in the New York Staats-Zeihing: 

VISIT IN QUESTION 

A Postponement of Prince Henry's Visit Possible. Only a 
Decided Change for the Better in the Condition of 
the President's son will make it Possible not 
to delay the visit planned, 

Washington, Feb. lo: If at the end of this week there 
has been no decided change for the better in the condition 
of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., it appears that Prince Henry of 



"OH, THESE SIMPLE AMERICANS !" 21 

Prussia will be obliged to delay his visit to the United States 
till later in the year. 

Promptly followed from Berlin the cabled answer 
that even in the event of the worst in the case of 
young Roosevelt, there would be no necessity for de- 
laying the Prince's visit, as this was not a presidential 
one but intended for the German people of the country. 

One may imagine how charmed those in the White 
House and the neighbouring embassies were with this 
answer. 

Then came the Prince. The American Congress 
had voted thirty thousand dollars as an entertainment 
fund, so he travelled over the country as a guest of 
the American nation. The Germans arose as one man 
to greet him. Wherever the Prince appeared, all the 
German societies swarmed in line, German flags 
waved, and 'Test Steht und treu die Wacht am Rhein" 
as well as "Deutschland, Deutschland iiber Alles," 
was sung. 

The Prince was convinced by his own observations, 
and could inform his imperial brother, that he found 
himself in a country in which a third * of the popula- 
tion was of German birth or German descent, and fully 
determined, under all circumstances, to he true to Ger- 
many. He saw and convinced himself of the truth 
of the expression which once Dr. von Holleben had 
used to a reporter at a critical time, namely, that any 
war between Germany and the United States woidd 
he in the character of a civil war. But if Prince Henry 
and Dr. von Holleben were witnesses of those impos- 
ing mass demonstrations of the Germans in America, 
so also was John E. Wilkie, who, after years of news- 
paper service, had become head of the Federal Secret 

* Actually less than one-tenth. 



22 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Service, and who, with a number of lynx-eyed agents, 
had made the entire triumphal tour with the Prince, 
and whose reports to the President, as well as to the 
State Department, would not be less interesting or 
instructive than those of the princely guest of the 
American nation to the German Emperor, and those 
of Herr von Holleben to the foreign office in Berlin.* 

A threatening storm gathered, which broke the in- 
stant the Prince had turned his back on the Ameri- 
can shores. I have heard from an absolutely authentic 
source that the original intention had been to engineer 
the von Holleben incident while the Prince was pres- 
ent in America. That would have meant war, but, for- 
tunately for the welfare of both nations, strong in- 
fluences were brought to bear, with the result that the 
planned rough-rider play, if not entirely hindered, was 
at least put off a few days. 

Who has not known until now why the imperial 
yacht Hohensollern suddenly lifted anchor several 
days before the allotted time and steamed out of New 
York harbour without ceremony, will find here the rea- 
son for that astonishing circumstance. *'We are first 
and last responsible," David J. Hill, American Under- 
Secretary of State, had said to me on a former occa- 
sion, "and if the anger of the people were to be 
aroused, there could be no retreating." 

A lucky providence ordained that the imperial yacht 
Hohenzollern did not have the fate of the Maine in 
the harbour of Havana. 

Even the "American naivete" has, as one sees, its 
limits. 

* "Prince Henry's visit, however, was really intended to 
solidify the German-American movement in behalf of the 
Fatherland." — Thayer's "Life of John Hay," Vol. H, p. 290. 



CHAPTER III 



I MAKE A DECISION 



How it happened that the Washington telegram regarding 
Herr von Holleben's recall appeared in the Philadelphia 
North American. — On the advice of Dr. Franz Schneider, 
Paris correspondent of the Cologne Zeitung, I determine to 
put in writing a history of my relations with the Embassy. 
— ''Habent sua fata libelli !" — An article in the Vienna 
Deutsche Zeitung, and its consequences. — Hatred of the 
German press for America. — Plan for publication of a 
"Washington correspondence." — A letter of recommenda- 
tion from the American Charge dAffaires at Vienna. — I 
meet Ambassador von Holleben and Dr. Laufer, editor-in- 
chief of the Norddeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung, in Berlin. 
An opinion of the American Charge at Berlin. — My arrival 
in Washington. 

The Philadelphia North American, which was the 
first and only paper to publish, on the morning after 
the departure of Prince Henry from America, the news 
that Dr. von Holleben had received his passports and 
been requested to leave the United States within forty- 
eight hours, is one of the most respectable and influen- 
tial daily papers in the United States and belongs to 
the millionaire, John Wanamaker, who, during Presi- 
dent McKinley's administration, was Postmaster Gen- 
eral, and is in the closest relations to the present states- 
men in Washington. This would explain how that 
ominous telegram from the American capital was ac- 
cepted in its columns and how the general director of 
the Associated Press, Mr. Melville E. Stone, in New 
York, at the same time received my address ''from 

23 



24 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Washington" and was asked to try to get me to ex- 
press my views in regard to the statement in the Phila- 
delphia publication. 

But how did it happen that the powers in Washing- 
ton had my address and brought me into conjunction 
with the telegram sent out by them? 

The answer to this question throws a remarkable 
light on the secret-service history of our day, and, 
taking into consideration the tremendous interest 
which this exposure possesses in the disclosure of those 
dark events, I shall not hesitate to put on paper the 
"truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." 

Habent sua fata libelli! 

In the year 1900, while I was visiting the Exposi- 
tion in Paris, I met Dr. Franz Schneider, whom I had 
known in London and who had been a reporter in six 
different European capitals, one after the other, for 
the progressive Kolnischen Zeitiing, and who urged 
me strongly to write my memoirs while they were fresh 
in my mind, and was of the opinion that they would 
be of great value as a contribution to a history of the 
times. I followed his advice, grasped my pen and pre- 
served my experiences of the time in which I was 
writing for the American press in the service of the 
German Empire, for the furtherance of a good under- 
standing between the two lands, without dreaming 
what an almost tragic role my little manuscript was 
destined to have. I finished it, felt my heart lighter 
for the work, and locked it in my trunk, where it re- 
mained — until Washington came into possession of it. 
I can do no better than rewrite once more the entire 
manuscript, as it explains later events and throws a 
light on the machinations which ended in the melodra- 
matic finale of Prince Henry's American tour. 

The head of the American Secret Service, John E. 



I MAKE A DECISION 25 

Wilkie, in Washington (as I have every reason to be- 
lieve), has brought the manuscript to the knowledge 
of the members of the Senate and House Committee 
for Foreign Affairs, and to those in still higher posi- 
tions, and therefore the action which has been taken 
against Dr. von Holleben. 

There are in men's lives some fateful moments 
which, with their surrounding circumstances, it is im- 
possible to erase from the human mind. Such a mo- 
ment happened to me on Saturday afternoon, the 23d 
of April, 1898, and I remember to-day, after so many 
years, every circumstance as clearly and distinctly as 
if it had been yesterday. I was at that time sub-editor 
of the National Vienna Deutschen Zeitung and had 
been placed at the head of their information bureau 
on foreign affairs. As the only member of the edi- 
torial staff who was not an Austrian, I experienced 
in my duties as reporter much open and hidden antip- 
athy from my more or less cherished colleagues, who 
had never been farther than the dust of their beautiful 
capital on the blue Danube and whose opinions there- 
fore were very narrow and bigoted as far as anything 
outside of Austria went. A sharp disagreement grew 
out of this, which suddenly came to a climax on that 
historically memorable day of which I spoke. 

As the telegram from the K. K. Telegraph Corre- 
spondent's office left no further doubt that the war 
which was brewing at the time of the explosion of the 
Maine in the harbour of Havana had become unavoid- 
able; yes, had practically already begun, even though 
the official declaration of war had not been pronounced, 
so the Spanish-American conflict was the logical theme 
for the leading editorial, and it fell to my share to 
write it. I was already quite advanced with my work 



26 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

when the publisher, Dr. Theodor Waehner, a well- 
meaning but rather narrow-minded man, appeared. 
Then followed this somewhat dramatic dialogue : 

Dr. Waehner : **Well, gentlemen, what are we writ- 
ing about to-day?" 

I : "Doctor, war is here. I have already begun an 
article." 

Dr. Waehner : ''But naturally we cannot permit the 
Americans to send their fleet to Europe and close up 
the Spanish harbours." 

I : "You are in a good humour to-day, doctor, but, 
speaking seriously, I am making it plain in my article 
that our sympathies are with America." 

Dr. Waehner: "You cannot possibly mean that! 
You are joking with me, are you not?" 

I : "Not in the least. I have, as you know, lived 
in America, know the circumstances and cannot write 
against America." 

Dr. Waehner : "That will not do under any circum- 
stances! The Queen Regent of Spain is an Austrian 
Archduchess; the Austrians are a Catholic people like 
the Spaniards and will stand on the side of the people 
of their faith; besides, America is a republic, and as 
loyal subjects of a monarch-ruled land we may not 
sympathise with a republic. Therefore, it must not 
be so! We are for Spain and against America!" 

I : "I am very sorry not to be able to share your 
view-point, and must beg you, therefore, to seek an- 
other editor to write such articles." 

With these words I tore up the article begun by 
me and threw it into the waste basket, reached for my 
hat and cane and prepared to leave the room, when 
Dr. Waehner hurried after me and begged me to dis- 
cuss my views at an editorial conference. There was 

stormy explanation which ended by my being given 



I MAKE A DECISION 27 

a free hand to write as I thought best. In the end Dr. 
Waehner, who Hked a good drink, had a bottle of Hen- 
nessy Cognac brought. We smoked a cigar of peace, 
and harmony was again restored. I returned to my 
place, took out of the basket the torn manuscript, pasted 
each part carefully together and finished my article, 
though still under great excitement. 

It appeared in the Sunday edition of the Deutschen 
Zeitung of April 24th, 1898, and is given below in its 
full verbal contents, not only because it throws a strong 
light on the then existing anti-American feeling in the 
German lands, but more because it was followed by 
the political consequences of the first degree, such as 
the earnest danger of a war between America and Ger- 
many, and the case without precedent in the annals of 
German diplomatic history of the dismissal of the Im- 
perial Ambassador to Washington. I admit frankly 
that if I had been able to look into the future my article 
would never have seen the light of day. It ran : 

FOR OR AGAINST AMERICA 

Vienna, 23 April, 1898. 
Our readers know that it has been the policy of the Deut- 
schen Zeitung first to point out the disgraceful proceedings 
in the murder case of Lattimer in Pennsylvania, and ener- 
getically demand the interference of the government in be- 
half of the murdered and wounded subjects of our monarchy. 
This should, properly speaking, have been the duty of the 
Social Democrat and Slav Hungarian Press, as those slaugh- 
tered at Hazleton were mostly Slavs and Magyar workmen; 
but, as is so often the case, Germany fulfilled the duty of 
the Magyars and Slavs, as these did not raise their pens in 
behalf of their brethren maliciously shot down in a foreign 
land. Our readers will further remember that at the end 
of the Lattimer trial, as well as at the yearly report of the 
New York German Society, we most emphatically advised 
against any further emigration to the United States, and 
recommended South America as the most promising field, 
as the German emigrants there help their nationality, while 
in the United States they run the danger of losing their 



28 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Germanism (Deutschtum). If to-day one will look back on 
these facts it will be impossible to accuse me of prejudice 
toward the North American Republic. But the same feeling 
of justice which urged me to interfere on behalf of the Slavs 
and Magyars, which the year before moved me to uphold 
Crete and Greece, forces us to-day, since a war has broken 
out between the United States and Spain, to disclose openly 
and honourably our views. In so doing I lay myself open 
to the danger of being again alone in my opinion and of 
drawing upon myself the anger of the so-called national 
publications who pretend to express the unexpressed rights 
and wishes of the body politic. 

It is one of the saddest and most revolting exhibitions of 
public life that the political Pharisees and hypocrites have 
taken the occasion of this war for regular orgies. Without 
respect to their political leanings, nearly all the newspapers 
of the European countries have given themselves over to 
hounding in the most shameless manner the North American 
Republic. Liberal, conservative and clerical organs, pro- and 
anti-Semitic, as well as ''nationalist" organs, have joined to 
fly at poor Uncle Sam, whose politics are branded as "a. naked, 
brutal programme of conquest," the meanest lawlessness, the 
most open greed for plunder. Strangely enough, these same 
papers that take an entirely different attitude in regard to 
the foreign policy of their own countries, in that they praise 
and justify in them exactly what they damn in the United 
States. Only a few days ago, a respectable German paper 
demanded that the German Empire should be the sole ruler 
of the Samoan Islands, as German trade there in the past 
few years had almost entirely dwindled. But this same paper 
makes the most violent accusations about the robber inten- 
tions of America toward Cuba, although the value of Ameri- 
can exports to the "Pearl of the Antilles" is immeasurably 
greater than Germany's to Samoa. Therefore, the harm 
that United States commerce has sustained is unquestionably 
greater. At this moment, the partition of the Chinese Empire 
into European spheres of interest, the so-called "lease of 
Chinese provinces for 99 years," is proceeding; and even to 
the accompaniment of strenuous appeals from the very same 
press which thunders against the "law-breaking, plunder-mad, 
brutal Yankee nation." In the opinion of all impartial per- 
sons, however, the legal right of the North American Union 
is de facto far clearer than that of all other governments 
taken together, the German included, which to-day are carv- 
ing out from the Chinese Empire the fattest bits to satisfy 
their land hunger. 



I MAKE A DECISION 29 

The logic of these sheets, however, is that what Europe 
should be allowed to do in China, America should be forbid- 
den to do in Cuba. The inconsistency of such logic should be 
apparent to every one. Should the North American Union 
in reality wish to annex Cuba, she would have the greatest 
right to do so, on geographic, political, commercial, humani- 
tarian and other grounds. But the Union has no thought 
of doing so, for, as President McKinley to-day remarked to 
a Times correspondent, he and the United States were bound 
by a solemn oath not to annex Cuba under any circumstances. 
The annexation of Cuba would be dishonourable. It was all 
a matter of humanity, and his object was to free Cuba from 
Spanish rule. Cuba was to be a Republic, under the protec- 
tion of America, but he hoped that it would not long be 
necessary to keep American troops in Cuba. This is the 
promise of the President, who has, until now, in his whole 
political career, shown himself to be a clever, thoughtful, and, 
above all, an honest man. There is no possible reason not to 
accept his words as truth. However, should circumstances 
arise stronger than the human will, it would be, from our 
point of view, the greatest good luck for Cuba to be placed 
as a star in the American flag, and have a part in the bless- 
ings of progress and culture which have so long been de- 
nied her. 

Our sympathies in this war belong to the Union, which 
is so largely composed of the German element that New 
York, after Berlin and Vienna, is the largest German city 
in the world. What family in the German Empire, or in 
Austria, has not dear relations or friends who live "over 
there" (druben) on the other side of the great water, and 
who now, perhaps, are preparing to shed their blood for their 
adopted fatherland ! Also, commercially speaking, we should 
be careful not to set the United States against us or to treat 
it en bagatelle, as from time immemorial our most important 
export trade has been in that direction. 

And this is the moment to weigh our viewpoints with 
those of the warring powers. The great North American 
Republic is a handwriting on the wall for all European 
princes and governments who are steering tozuard absolutism. 
Without union it would go hard for the commoners in Europe 
to-day. We think we are not mistaken when we take it for 
granted that the sympathies of all the friends of freedom 
will stand on the side of the United States, who, in the 
Spanish-American war, has been called to punish Spain for 
her many hundred years of misrule, as well in her former 
colonies as in Cuba. 



30 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

It is difficult to-day to imagine what a sensation was 
caused in both hemispheres by this article. It was 
cabled intact to America and caused there as much 
pleasurable surprise as in the higher circles of Berlin 
and Vienna it aroused anger and ill temper. I am not 
a vain, self -appreciative man, and do not enjoy blow- 
ing my own horn; but no one who reads the article 
with critical eyes can deny that in those stormy days 
I was the only journalist who warned the German 
press of the danger of throwing mud at the United 
States in her hour of danger. My voice remained as 
of one crying in the wilderness. If it had been heard, 
the German Empire would have stood to-day as the 
first and only friend of America, and the disgust- 
ing spectacle would have been spared the world of wit- 
nessing the humiliating pursuit and a cringing court- 
ship of American goodwill, which has been the cult 
of German politicians since the Spanish- American war. 

The morning after the appearance of my article 
the publisher of the Dcutschcn Zeitung received a 
letter of thanks from Carl Baily Hurst, the American 
consul-general in Vienna, and in the next few months 
I became acquainted with the business manager of 
the American Embassy, Charles D. Herdliska, who 
talked with me openly and frankly about the situation 
on both sides of the ocean and finally awakened the 
idea in my mind of settling in Washington as a cor- 
respondent reporter for the papers of the German 
Empire, Austria and Switzerland. 

I should have to go beyond the limits of this state- 
ment were I even to try to give extracts of the tone of 
the German press during the first months of the war. 
It is only necessary to determine the irrefutable fact 
that a furious storm of immeasurable hate, of irra- 



I MAKE A DECISION 31 

tional ill-will and envy, broke out against the United 
States through the German newspapers, and that it 
was precisely those which stood nearest to the gov- 
ernment that were the loudest in their denunciation 
of America. The unfortunate Dewey-Diederichs epi- 
sode at Manila, where the fault lay on the German 
side, as I was later told in privacy by Dr. A. von 
Mumm, only caused more oil to be thrown on the fire, 
and the unfriendly attitude of the Germans found an 
echo in the American press, whose Berlin correspon- 
dent, Wolf von Schierbrand, as a representative of the 
Associated Press, faithfully cabled every hateful news- 
paper article as symptomatic of the feelings of the Ger- 
man Empire.* 

Thus a state of things was brought about which 
allowed the worst to be feared for the future. At this 
time I exchanged opinions with the American consul 
to Vienna, Mr. Charles B. Herdliska, of a plan for the 

* These unfriendly editorials from the German newspapers 
are copied at every fitting and unfitting opportunity by the 
American press. Especially notable in this regard is the New 
York Herald, in whose columns, at different times, I have 
run across the following excerpts from German papers : 

The Cologne Zeitung wrote, on April 22, 1898: 

''Our sympathy belongs to Spain, because she represents 
international law." 

The KreutBzeitung of April 28th : 

"The lowest motives brought about this war." Of April 
27th : "Open greed for plunder occasioned this war." 

The Vossische Zeitung of April 8th: 

"The American people have not the right to assume at 
once the role of judge and dictator." Of April loth: "The 
whole American republic was founded upon the violation of 
the rights of other peoples." 

The TaeglicJie Rundschau: 

"American politicians are pocketbook patriots, who allow 
themselves to be bought and sold by the industrial million- 
aires. Their God is Mammon, and they betray their own 
country." 



Z2 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

publication of a Washington correspondence for the 
German press. Mr. Herdliska assured me that the ad- 
ministration at Washington would look upon such a 
plan with favour, and further promised me the whole 
influence of the Embassy in the American capital 
towards the success of my undertaking. Who will 
blame me when by degrees I came to believe (I write 
this in the light of later experiences) that I was called 
to bridge over the differences between the two related 
peoples and to bring about, at least in the press, a 
better understanding? I got the opinion of most of 
the journalists in Vienna as to a Washington corre- 
spondence, and almost universally received encourag- 
ing and friendly words. As the Berlin Foreign Office 
and its satellites later sought to destroy my credibility, 
it seems appropriate to give verbatim some of the 
acquiescent letters which I received. 

Mr. Moritz Ring, editor of the Neiicn Wiener Tag- 
hlatt, wrote me under date of September 5th, 1898: 

"Dear Sir: 

"The news of your proposed journalistic undertaking in 
Washington I hold to be a thoroughly good idea, and there 
can be no doubt of its usefulness. Your proposed plan, as 
well as your former public activities, and also your person- 
ality, ought to be an assurance of the success of your under- 
taking. Be assured that I shall be ready to recommend your 
work in the circle of my journalistic friends." 

I had similar expressions from Dr. Johannes Meisz- 
ner, editor of the Kolnischen Zeitung, H. Greindl, 
editor of the Hamburger Nachrichten, Paul Dehn of 
Friedman, near Berlin, one of the confidential jour- 
nalists of the Foreign Office, and other well-known 
men. From the American Consul in Berlin I received 
the following note, which speaks for itself : 



I MAKE A DECISION 33 

"Legation of the United States of America, 

"Vienna, Austria, September 7, 1898. 
"Dear Sir: 

"I have your letter of the 31st of August, 1898, informing 
me of your intention to establish a newspaper agency in 
Washington, the Washington Correspondence, for the supply 
of the Press in the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and 
Switzerland. 

"I quite agree with you that the present juncture is highly 
favourable for such a venture, which, if properly worked, 
ought certainly to exercise a favourable influence in the di- 
rection of developing in all spheres the existing friendly rela- 
tions between the United States and the German-speaking 
countries of Europe. There can be no doubt that European 
public opinion on American affairs is far from being as 
enlightened and well-informed as could be desired, and that 
your proposed agency might do great service in the pre- 
vention and removal of prejudices, difficulties and misun- 
derstandings calculated to damage the interests of the Old 
World no less than those of the New. 

"The good impression produced upon me by your knowl- 
edge of our affairs, as well as by your newspaper articles, 
justifies me in wishing you every success in your enterprise, 
and in anticipating from it a useful influence upon public 
opinion in the sphere to which it will extend. 

"I remain 

"Yours very sincerely, 

"Charles V. Herdliska, 
"Charge dAffaires ad interim of the United States in Vienna." 

I also further received from Mr. Herdliska a letter 
of introduction to the Secretary of State in Washing- 
ton, Mr. John Hay, which was expressed in the warm- 
est terms. Mr. Greindl took occasion to discuss my 
plans with the German Embassy in Vienna, and later 
told me that the First Counsellor of the Embassy, 
Prince Lychnowski, had recommended my plan to 
Berlin. 

In the beginning of October, 1898, I left Vienna 
with my family and began my journey to Washing- 
ton, filled with the highest hopes. On my way I 
stopped off first at Berlin, where I presented a letter of 



34 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

introduction to the then chief editor of the Norddcut- 
schen Allgcmeinen Zeitiing, Mr. WilHam Lauser. Mr 
Lauser, who during his whole life has been a "pa- 
triotic reptile," that is, has used his pen first for this 
and then for the other government, gave me a most 
hearty welcome and expressed himself with rather 
startling openness about high and the highest persons. 
Of Ambassador von Holleben he told me that he was 
from Stuttgart, where his excellency had formerly 
been the Prussian Ambassador, and that he was a good 
friend of his. "Mr. von Holleben used often to come 
to the press office," he added, with an amused wink, 
"and we had many a chat whenever his circumstances 
allowed him time for it. He is living now in Berlin 
at the Hotel Bristol, and I advise you, decidedly, dur- 
ing your stay here, to present yourself to him." 

In the further pursuance of our conversation, I 
made known to Mr. Lauser my plan to establish a 
newspaper agency in Washington. This confession 
seemed to stagger him. He hesitated a moment and 
then asked whether I knew Mr. Paul Haedicke, who 
belonged to the staff of the N orddeutschen Allgcmei- 
nen Zeitung. 

"Only by hearsay," I replied, and did not say that I 
had not heard the best about Mr. Haedicke during 
his former residence in Chicago. 

"Haedicke is a clever fellow," remarked Mr. 
Lauser. "He published in the Kreu::zeitung letters 
entitled 'During my Exile in America,' and through 
them has won the goodwill of the inner masgebenden 
circle of the Wilhelmstrasse." 

A short pause followed, then he turned suddenly 
to me with the words : 

"Your plan to establish a correspondence in Wash- 
ington has in a measure surprised me. I believe that 



I MAKE A DECISION 35 

I ought to say to you that for some time I have been 
working on the founding of a society for the laying 
of a German-Atlantic cable to America and that I 
have about accomplished it. I must hope that your 
plans will coincide with mine and that we will be able 
to find a common ground, so our interests can work 
together. And one thing more — do not forget to speak 
of this at the Foreign Office." 

I decided to follow Mr. Lauser's advice. I sought 
Dr. von Holleben at the Hotel Bristol and laid my 
plans briefly before him. ''Dr. Lauser has already 
spoken to me about you," he began. ''I am pleased 
that the Americans take such an interest in the further- 
ance of friendly relationship between the Old and the 
New World, and I am ready to support your under- 
taking in every possible way. As I am to remain here 
several weeks longer, I will in the meantime recom- 
mend you to my First Secretary, Baron von Sternburg, 
Do you know, possibly, Mr. Reginald Schroder, the 
Washington correspondent of the New Yorker Staats- 
Zeitungf He is a many-sided and useful man, who 
has been very serviceable to the Embassy." 

I replied that I had several times met this gentle- 
man, but that in reality I knew nothing further of 
him than that he had the questionable renown of hav- 
ing been the grave digger of Frank Leslie's Deutscher 
Illustrierter Zeittmg. 

"I see that you have been well-informed," remarked 
the minister. ''Do you also know Count Seckendorff ?" 

"Was he not formerly a German naval officer, with 
a rather romantic history, who represented the New 
York Tribune in Washington?" was my counter-ques- 
tion. 

My answer seemed to surprise him. He adjusted 
his eye glasses, examined me penetratingly and re- 



36 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

marked, after a pause, while he extended his hand to 
me : "Well, I am very pleased to have made your ac- 
quaintance. I will see you again in Washington." 

The Foreign Office, when I presented myself there, 
showed that it was already informed, through Dr. 
Lauser and Dr. von Holleben, of my plans, and prom- 
ised to bear my undertaking in mind. 

Just at this time the memoirs of Busch were pub- 
lished in London. They were the sensation of the 
day and wherever I might be in conversation the talk 
was sure to turn on the disclosures of Bismarck's 
former secretary. So it was also at the American Em- 
bassy, where I presented a letter of introduction to 
the First Secretary, Mr. Jackson Brinckerhoff, which 
had been given me by one of my Vienna colleagues. 
Mr. Brinckerhoff was charmed to make my acquaint- 
ance, wished for my undertaking every possible suc- 
cess, but added that he had no idea that a bush of that 
sort could grow and prosper on American soil. 

Hardly three months had passed after this conver- 
sation when I found myself attached to the German 
Embassy in Washington for "press affairs," as the ex- 
pression there is, and drew my income from the se- 
cret disposition fund in Berlin, for services which were 
not very different from those which Moritz Busch had 
rendered to Germany's first chancellor. 

How I had been prevented from accomplishing my 
original idea, namely, that of a German news corre- 
spondent, and how it came about that for more than 
a year I played the role of a Moritz Busch in the Amer- 
ican capital, will be seen in the following recital : 



CHAPTER IV 

I EXPERIENCE AMERICAN JOURNALISM 

At Herr von Holleben's request, I draw up a memorandum 
for the Foreign Office in Berlin. — Dilatory tactics of his 
excellency. — Paul Haedicke's dual role. — The Wolff Bureau 
realises my plan. — Herr von Holleben attaches me to the 
Embassy for newspaper work. — General instructions. — 
How Herr von Holleben was deceived by a western jour- 
nalist. — Uncle Sam's American eagle. — "American German 
Review." — My mission to the New York Sun. — Good eti- 
quette in dealing with the press. 

Arrived in Washington, I soon discovered that my 
hopes and expectations which had carried me across 
the ocean were entirely premature and that a Httle dip- 
lomatic comedy was being played in which I was to 
fill the part of the dupe. Mr. von Sternburg received 
me, however, I am pleased to acknowledge, in a most 
friendly manner, but told me at once that he had re- 
ceived the most categorical instructions from the min- 
ister to persuade me to take no step in my plans as 
to a "Washington correspondence" before his excel- 
lency's arrival. Then Mr. von Holleben returned to 
Washington and tried to persuade me to make out a 
record for the use of the Foreign Office in Berlin and to 
develop therein my programme for a correspondence. 
I acceded to this, but after a time my manuscript was 
returned to me with handwritten remarks of error 
from the Ambassador and on account of these I was 
requested to rewrite it. Several more weeks passed; 
then suddenly one day I was summoned to go to New 

37 



38 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

York to meet there a secret-service man from the For- 
eign Office, who had just arrived from Germany, and 
confer with him. I went to New York and found 
that the secret-service man from the Foreign Office 
was no other than the editor of the semi-official Con- 
tinental Telegraph Company (Wolff's Bureau), Mr. 
Paul Haedicke, who between ourselves admitted that 
he had been sent to America to exercise a control over 
the Associated Press, in whose office in the New York 
Central he opened his bureau ; and further, that at my 
suggestion he was going to develop an edition of a 
German- American news correspondence. He congrat- 
ulated me in a cynical manner on my clever idea, which 
had so well pleased the Foreign Office that it immedi- 
ately decided to trust no one else with the publication 
except those belonging to the official Wolff's Bureau. 
I returned to Washington out of temper and de- 
clared to my friends there that I saw in the develop- 
ment of my scheme by IVolif's Bureau a shameless 
steal, against which I should defend myself with all 
the means of law. This happened on a Saturday. On 
Monday I was summoned by special letter to the Em- 
bassy, where Mr. von Holleben offered me the posi- 
tion of "Press Attache" in the service of the Embassy, 
and in this capacity to develop a better understand- 
ing between America and Germany. As a monthly 
stipend for my services I was to receive one hundred 
and fifty dollars. Under the circumstances, there was 
hardly anything for me to do but accept the offer. 
Also the journalist instinct in me was aroused, which 
assured me that I would have a rare opportunity of an 
insight into the inner workings of diplomacy, which 
I must not thrust aside. Certainly among the army 
of correspondents in Washington there were few who 
would have refused! I cannot assert that any sud- 



I EXPERIENCE AMERICAN JOURNALISM 39 

den calling to the rank and character of an officer 
of the Embassy gave me particular pleasure or sense 
of sufficiency, but I did believe that in this new posi- 
tion I should be able to do my small part in the pro- 
motion of friendship between the two peoples. 

The political horizon was just at this time heavy 
with clouds. The violent press campaigns which had 
preceded the Spanish-American war were continued 
with even greater impetuosity, not ceasing even after 
the peace declaration, and widening the breach between 
the two lands to the uttermost, and a great number 
of American newspapers openly demanded war with 
Germany. It was only too well known to me person- 
ally that the attitude taken by the American press 
against Germany was not without cause. 

As the irony of fate would have it, I was chosen 
as ^'Press Attache" of the German Embassy in Amer- 
ica to smooth over what the Qerman press in its blind 
envy, in order to please the nS-^hty in Wilhelmstrasse, 
had brought about. 

In entering upon my duties I received general in- 
structions to make every effort to make the papers 
keep silence which were antagonistic to Germany and 
to perform the miracle of turning them from bitter 
opponents to friends and admirers of the Emperor, as 
well as also to make it appear that the real enemy of 
the United States was not Germany but England. I 
found this duty in no sense easy. The government, 
as well as the greater part of the American people, 
were suspicious of the German Empire and its poli- 
tics, and the Anglo-American press was only too true 
a mirror of this distrust. In the administration circle 
no bones were made of the idea that America's next 
war would be with Germany, and even the personnel 
of the German Embassy was fully convinced likewise. 



40 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

I myself once heard a young reporter of the New York 
Sun declaring to the chancellor of the Embassy, Mr. 
Kinne, in hoarse words : "All your fine words will not 
help you. You are now in the same position as Spain 
before the war." As a punishment for his forward- 
ness, the door ever afterward was closed to the imper- 
tinent youth, but the sting of his remark remained, 
and what he had openly said the whole of Washington 
thought in secret, though silence was imposed for offi- 
cial reasons. 

Under such auspices I began my work. The per- 
sonal attacks of the three Washington papers to which 
he was almost daily exposed were particularly unpleas- 
ant and burdensome to the Ambassador. One of the 
first duties which I received from his excellency was 
to use the power of my persuasion on the editors-in- 
chief of these sheets and have the attacks cease. That 
in part I was successful in this undertaking I owe to 
the kindly trouble of Count M. G. Seckendorff, a 
younger brother of the former court marshal of the 
late Empress Friederich, who for many years had been 
at the head of the Washington office of the influential 
New York Tribune, and who as such had the un- 
bounded confidence of the American authorities in the 
capital. As a personal friend of Dr. von Holleben, he 
had already shown him many a favour in the press 
before I undertook my office and he stood by me, I 
am pleased to make known, ready with help and advice. 

As it was absolutely necessary for the success of 
my mission that the nature of my relations to the Em- 
bassy should remain a profound secret, I was enrolled 
by the Ambassador, at the suggestion of Mr. von Stern- 
burg, as a Washington special correspondent of the 
N orddeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung, and in this char- 
acter I associated with the American journalists, whose 



I EXPERIENCE AMERICAN JOURNALISM 41 

acquaintance I made use of for the service of the Am- 
bassador. Count Seckendorff knew of the secret and 
gave me letters of introduction to the pubHshers, per- 
sonally known to him, of the Washington Evening 
Star and the Evening Post, in which he introduced 
me as the special correspondent of the Norddeutschen 
Allgemeinen Zeitung and asked if opportunity might 
be given me to reply in the columns of their papers 
to the frequently wrong views of the editors on Ger- 
man politics. The reception given me by Mr. Beriah 
Wilkins, the owner of the Washington Post, was not 
particularly encouraging. He greeted me very cor- 
dially, but said that according to his own experiences 
in Germany he was not able to believe the honourable 
intentions of the German love suit, because, he added, 
it had happened to him while on his travels, in Berlin 
hotels and other large towns in Germany, that Ger- 
man officers had left his table in demonstrative fashion 
as soon as they knew that he was an American. 

I had better results with the Washington Evening 
Star, to whose editor, Mr. Noyes, I also handed a letter 
of introduction from Count Seckendorff. Mr. Noyes 
listened to me sympathetically and after that interview 
there were no further personal attacks on the Ambas- 
sador in the Star. 

I received an extremely warm welcome from the 
editor-in-chief of the Washington Times, Mr. Goldwin 
West. This paper, which up to that time had been 
one of the most violent opposers of the Ambassador, 
published on the morning after my visit an article 
in which was most urgently set forth the necessity for 
the cultivation of friendly relations between the United 
States and the German Empire. Later I arranged a 
meeting between Mr. West and Mr. von Holleben, 
which was very satisfactory for both sides. As Mr. 



42 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

West later confided to me over a glass of beer, ever 
since that interview Mr. von Sternburg had been a fre- 
quent and welcome midnight visitor in the editorial 
sanctum of the Washington Times. 

While I am speaking of the local Washington press, 
I will recount an amusing little incident of how the 
Ambassador was once outwitted by a crafty American. 
After the foregoing it will be understood how much 
effort Mr. von Holleben must have used to have ac- 
quired such an influence over the Washington daily 
papers that under all circumstances they were at his 
disposal. He took hold with both hands when a jour- 
nalist by the name of W. R. Vaughan, who was recom- 
mended to him by a western senator, approached him 
and proposed to publish a daily paper in Washington 
in which his excellency could use as much white paper 
as he wished. As capital was rather short for a be- 
ginning, he trustfully asked the Ambassador to help 
him. On the 226. of February, 1899, there actually 
appeared the first number of Uncle Sam's American 
Eagle, which bore the name of Vaughan as editor and 
publisher. But bitter was Mr. von Holleben's dis- 
appointment when, in place of the promised daily, he 
saw an unimportant weekly paper whose inner sheets 
were filled with cheap platitudes. But it must be con- 
ceded to Mr. Vaughan that he gave himself great 
trouble in his editorial contributions to retain the good- 
will of the Ambassador. In long-winded tirades he 
announced that his sheet would definitely fight any 
alliance with a foreign power (namely, England), but, 
on the other hand, would lay every stress on the sub- 
ject of friendship with Germany. I believe that Mr. 
von Holleben only too soon began to feel the burden 
of the attention shown him by Uncle Sam's American 
Eagle, as rarely a week went by in which Mr. Vaughan 



I EXPERIENCE AMERICAN JOURNALISM 43 

did not express the modest wish to his excellency of 
publishing an extra edition (a single number at five 
cents) for the Embassy. As liberal as Chancellor 
Kinne might be in the distribution of gratis numbers 
of the paper, there still remained such a stack of them 
on hand that for years to come all the needs of the 
Embassy's personnel were covered. 

There was also an amusing side to the scheme be- 
tween the Ambassador and the monthly American- 
German Review, which was called into being to fleece 
the lambs on both sides of the ocean who were enthu- 
siastic over a better understanding between Germany 
and the United States. The name of its publisher was 
given as Henry Charles, a pseudonym behind which 
was hidden an extremely good business man, a Jew, 
and the editor was Henry W. Fischer, the journalist, 
well-known in two hemispheres, who later published 
the memoirs of ''The Private Lives of Emperor Wil- 
liam II and his Consort," which was forbidden in 
Germany. In the whole of New York, collection lists 
were circulated to raise a fund for the furtherance of 
a better understanding between Germany and Amer- 
ica, and most of the German Jew bankers, as well as 
multitudes of German-American business men in the 
metropolis on the Hudson, wrote themselves down on 
the list for considerable sums. The undertaking met 
with the approval of the German Chancellor, who in- 
structed the Ambassador to further it under all circum- 
stances. Herr von Holleben was rather embarrassed 
by this commission, as the amount allowed him for 
press affairs was already exhausted. What could he 
do under the circumstances? 

"Do you know, excellency," he was advised by Mr. 
"Charles" at this difficult time, "you will get into a 
carriage with me and we will drive together to the New 



44 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

York German Jew bankers, to whom I will introduce 
you as his excellency, the Ambassador of the German 
Empire, who will have the kindness to affirm to the 
bankers (Herren Bankiers) that his highness, the Ger- 
man Chancellor in Berlin, is very anxious for the con- 
tinuance of the American-German Review, but that the 
means at the disposal of the German Empire are lack- 
ing to assist the Review, and that the Herren Bankiers 
will assist the good understanding between the German 
Empire and America if they will be pleased to write 
a three-figure check for the American-German Review. 

Mr. Charles told me that the Ambassador declared 
himself ready to agree to his proposal and even the 
day and hour had been planned for this secretly ar- 
ranged "pumpmanoeuvre," but at the last moment un- 
friendly influences destroyed the plan and with it the 
existence of the American-German Review. The total 
appearance of this monthly amounted to only four 
numbers and then it died a quiet death, mourned alone 
by the New York German Jew bankers and German- 
American merchants who had gone deep into their 
pockets to found and secure the undertaking. 

A source of constant anger and annoyance for the 
Ambassador were the ill-natured attacks of the New 
York Sun. I received, therefore, one day the com- 
mission to go to New York and try my arts on the 
publisher of this paper, Mr. Laffan. He listened at- 
tentively to my arguments and agreed with me that 
a continuation of the attacks would have very bad 
consequences for the two peoples. 

'T have," I told him, ''in my character of special 
correspondent of the semi-official Berlin Norddeiit- 
schen Allgemeinen Zeititng had repeated opportuni- 
ties of talking with Herr von Holleben about the posi- 
tion which the New York Sun has taken against Ger- 



I EXPERIENCE AMERICAN JOURNALISM 45 

many. As an admirer of the many qualities which the 
Sun displays, he deeply regrets that the New York 
Sun should belong to the opponents of the German 
policy, and he is most anxious to convince its editors 
of the sincerity of Germany's declaration of friend- 
ship. We ask of you nothing further than a neutral 
attitude." 

Mr. Lafifan had listened attentively to me. ''You 
shall not have appealed to me in vain," he replied, 
"and I will promise you that the attacks in the Sim 
on the German Ambassador and the German Empire 
shall cease." 

"Allow me one more observation, Mr. Laffan," I 
continued my argument, "you are not only the pub- 
lisher of the New York Sun but also the founder of 
the great telegraph bureau which is named after you, 
and as such you have the greatest interest in the suc- 
cess and rapidity of your news service, that it shall 
not be behind the Associated Press. As things now 
stand, your Berlin service stands second to the Asso- 
ciated Press. I believe I am able to assure you, from 
my knowledge of persons and circumstances, that the 
Chancellor and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 
would gladly give your Berlin reporter the same ad- 
vantages as the Associated Press as soon as they had 
the assurance of the strict neutrality of your news 
service. Besides," Mr. Laffan looked at me intently, 
"besides, the German Empire has in view the laying of 
its own cable to America. I shall not hide it from 
you, that in regard to you particular favours could be 
granted for the forwarding of your telegrams. Do 
you clearly understand me? No change of opinion 
is expected from the Sun, only the strictest neutrality 
and impartiality." 

Mr. Laffan held out both hands to me. "The Ger- 



46 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

man Empire has a good advocate in you," he said, 
laughing, ^'and I repeat my promise that the attacks 
in the New York Sun shall cease. Here, you have 
my hand on it." 

We shook hands like a pair of good friends and 
then separated. The Ambassador was delighted when, 
on my return from New York, I told him of the success 
of my journey. "Now we will prove the fellow," he 
remarked, "and see if he will keep his word. Write 
an article and send it to the New York Sun, and truly, 
if he publishes it, I will believe in the sincerity of Mr. 
Laffan's assurances." 

I wrote the desired article and sent it off. It ap- 
peared the next morning in a prominent position on 
the editorial page of the Sun, where it filled an entire 
column. It was signed with my initials and the editor 
had introduced it with a few polite words. 

'Tt looks as if we had found the right man," was 
the comment of the Ambassador, as the paper which 
contained it was laid before him, ''for he has accom- 
plished what no one else has been able to do, turned 
the New York Saul into a Paid.'' 

The pleasant relations between the New York Sun 
and the Ambassador were not, however, of long dura- 
tion; for about a month later a note was delivered to 
Mr. von Holleben from David L. Berry, the Washing- 
ton correspondent of the Snn, in which Herr von Hol- 
leben was asked not to overlook the Laffan office, 
namely, the Siin,m the distribution of official communi- 
cations and denials. Mr. von Holleben commissioned 
me to see Mr. Berry and tell him ''as brutally and in- 
sultingly as possible" that the representatives of the 
German Empire must refuse to give any information 
whatsoever. "Besides," so my instructions proceeded, 
"you may also say to Mr. Berry, that in the person 



I EXPERIENCE AMERICAN JOURNALISM 47 

of Mr. Hazeltine there are already relations between 
the Ambassador and the New York Sim/' 

The Ambassador's order seemed to me, honestly 
speaking, not to be possessed of statesmanlike wisdom. 
With Mr. Berry's letter in my hand, I sought him in his 
office and "with the best wishes of his Excellency" I told 
him that he would be only too pleased to comply with 
the request of Mr. Berry, but that as a return favour "a 
friendly attitude" would be expected from the Sun. 
Mr. Berry's reply was typically American. He sev- 
eral times pronounced with emphasis the word 
"damn," which is banned from polite society, and was 
amused at the shortsightedness of the Ambassador 
who was not able to understand that he (Berry), as 
a correspondent, had not the slightest influence on the 
policy of the paper, and that he was only injuring 
himself and his government if he should keep the 
official news of the Embassy from the Laffan office and 
the New York Sun. "Besides," and Mr. Berry looked 
at me doubtfully, "how do you happen to have my 
letter and how does it happen that the Ambassador 
sends you to me as his emissary ? You are, I believe, 
as your card reads, the special correspondent of the 
Norddcutscher Allgemeinen Zeitung in Berlin?" 

I replied, that, as was well known, the Norddcut- 
scher Allgemeinen Zeitung was the organ of the For- 
eign Office in Berlin, and as their Washington cor- 
respondent I had the right to stand a little on the side 
of the Ambassador in his intercourse with the Ameri- 
can press. 

Contrary to the categorical commission of the Am- 
bassador, I held it to be good policy to be on good 
terms with the New York Sun, at least as far as I 
came into connection with it. So that it gave me 
great pleasure when Herr von Holleben had gone on 



48 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

his vacation and Herr von Mumm took over the affairs 
of the Embassy to be able to give the first news of the 
conckision of the parcel-post treaty between the Ger- 
man Empire and the United States to the Washington 
office of the New York Sun. As up to this time only 
the Associated Press was in possession of the news, 
I spared the Sun and the Laffan office, through my 
complaisance, an unpleasant journalistic defeat* 

* How the New York Sun went over into the German camp 
again during Prince Henry's American journey I shall de- 
scribe in a later chapter. 



CHAPTER V 

SOME UNWRITTEN HISTORY 

The official communiques of the Embassy given out by me 
documents of a weak, undignified politics. — A letter from 
Councillor Kinne. — Disclosures concerning history prior to 
the Spanish-American war. — England's astounding propos- 
als to the German Empire. — Open friction between the 
German Empire and England over the Samoan question. — 
A companion piece to an Ems despatch. — I transform a 
fanfare into a parley. — A commission from the Imperial 
Chancellor lies neglected while Paul Haedicke carouses 
about town. — Privy Legation Councillor Dr. Rose gives 
m.e some inspired material about himself for publication. — 
A letter from Henry C. Ide, former American Chief Justice 
of Samoa. 

It was a part of my duty to complete the official 
communications and present them to the press. I will 
frankly confess that often my cheeks became red with 
shame when I was obliged to compose this packet; 
these writings, which were a speaking witness of a 
weak and worthless policy, which did not know what 
it wanted. 

Usually my articles began with the introduction that 
the Imperial German Government had decided to give 
to the government of the United States another proof 
of its goodwill by granting this or that, and at the 
end there was always the remark that it was to be 
hoped this concession would remove another obstacle 
to a better business relationship between the two coun- 
tries. 

Once I was obliged, after a conversation with Herr 

49 



50 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

von Sternburg, to give out the extraordinary document 
that ''certain kinds of American fruits" were not 
"fruit" looked at in the sense of the Imperial order, 
and therefore were freed from the San Jose cochineal 
examination, which was intended for other kinds of 
fruit. 

The secret key for the German diplomacy in Amer- 
ica at this time, after the S panish- American war, was 
animosity and envy against England. On the 13th of 
February, 1899, I received from the Chancellor of the 
embassy, Hofrat A. Kinne, the following: 

"Dear Mr. Witte: 

"In conformity with your commission, I herewith send 
you an article from the Washington Post of July 3d of last 
year, which you will make the best possible use of. 

"Yours truly, 

"A. Kinne." 

The article which the foregoing letter referred to 
came from the pen of a German- American journalist, 
Fred J. Schrader, and dealt with ''Germany's Attitude 
in the War." Its contents are too interesting to be 
from the pen of a correspondent of a western paper 
and betray in every line the inspired origin and, more- 
over, the style points to Hofrat Kinne. The article 
is so comprehensive that I am unable to give it here 
verbatim, but nevertheless I give a few extracts: 

"Whoever is only partially instructed in the present 
stand of international affairs, knows that there is abso- 
lutely no ground for regarding the German govern- 
ment other than as a neutral power, whose neutrality 
is moderated through a strong liking for America, 
and that therefore no German ship has been discovered 
trying to coal Spanish cruisers, or to strengthen the 
forces of our enemies with artillery. But all this 
systematic turning of the truth has a diplomatic reason 



SOME UNWRITTEN HISTORY 51 

at bottom, whose motive is well understood in Wash- 
ington. England is forced, as Secretary Chamberlin, 
Lord Lansdowne and other men of equal importance 
have confessed, to make an alliance with another 
power, and has, since the beginning of the Spanish- 
American war, made astonishing proposals to the Ger- 
man government in behalf of the conclusion of an 
alliance against Russia. Among the different pro- 
posals, it is said, was one to give Germany a free hand 
to expand her colonial possessions under British guar- 
antee. Yes, Germany was offered colonial conces- 
sions, the precise nature of which is not known. For 
reasons best known to the German government, these 
offers were refused. Great Britain remained alone in 
her great isolation, while Germany obviously was striv- 
ing for a closer understanding with Russia and France. 
And from this time dates all the efforts to bring about 
a difference between the United States and the govern- 
ment of the Emperor. 

"Washington diplomats are of the opinion that this 
systematic endeavour to make Germany suspected at 
such a critical time can only have in view the bring- 
ing about of an unbearable condition which will induce 
one side or the other to take a thoughtless step and 
thereby cause a war in which Great Britain would be 
so placed that she could either offer the United States 
an alliance against Germany or Germany an alliance 
against the United States. 

"But for the Queen's government, an alliance with 
a power which is as strong on land as Germany and 
besides one that lies so near to Russia that it could 
strike immediately is more important than the help of 
the United States. In all likelihood, England's first 
bid would go to the Kaiser's address, and all the 
sentimentality about 'the same race' would be changed 



52 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

into 'blood-relationship' between England and Ger- 
many, as at the beginning of the war they were di- 
verted from their Spanish-friendly courtship and be- 
gan activities with us. The British prime minister 
has not spoken; the Queen has not spoken. Only 
Austin Dobson, Robert Barr, and the English or 
Anglicised American newspaper correspondents abroad 
are for the policy of an Anglo-American alliance. 
Secretary Chamberlin made some remarks about the 
banners of both lands supporting each other. But the 
matter has not gone so far that the British govern- 
ment policy has been bound, so that at a critical mo- 
ment it would not be able to retreat and take cause 
with the Kaiser, after they had succeeded in embroil- 
ing us in a war with the Kaiser's people. ..." 

So much for the article, which is not in the style 
of the ordinary news correspondent, Fred F. Schrader, 
but is from no less a person than the chief of the Ger- 
man embassy, who therefore is authority for the state- 
ment that at the beginning of the Spanish-American 
war the German government was approached with 
astonishing proposals in behalf of the conclusion of 
an alliance against Russia; that it would give Ger- 
many a free hand to enlarge her colonial possessions, 
under British guarantee, and besides that it had been 
ofifered colonial concessions. 

The secret opposition between Germany and 
England found open expression during the Samoan 
troubles. What I here recount is perhaps one of the 
most remarkable illustrations of stair-case wit in world 
history, and perhaps as such will live in world his- 
tory. One is reminded of a new edition of the Ems 
despatch, only this time the point is not directed 
against France, but against England, and in the review 
I changed the fanfare into a chamade. 



SOME UNWRITTEN HISTORY 53 

As to-day it may be considered that the publication 
of this telegram could have no unfavorable influence 
on international politics, this tragi-comic contribution 
may well appear here as a monument in the history of 
our times. 

In the Samoan troubles, English and American 
blood flowed together. Thus the ''Anglo-Saxon soli- 
darity" came about, and the stand of the German di- 
plomacy toward England and America had become 
very diflicult. 

During the negotiations in Washington on regulat- 
ing the Samoan question, the British Ambassador, Sir 
Julian Pauncefote, first dropped a word on renewing 
a Samoan commission. This thought was at once 
snatched up by Herr von Holleben, who gave knowl- 
edge of it at once by telegraph to the Foreign Office 
in Berlin, and immediai:ely received a telegraphic reply 
to accede to the proposal. 

With the telegram from the Foreign Office in his 
hand, Herr von Holleben sought the Secretary of 
State, Mr. John Hay, who then also granted his 
acquiescence. The German Ambassador then went to 
Sir Julian Pauncefote and told him officially that the 
German, as well as the American, government had 
consented to Sir Julian's propositions.* 

The British Ambassador was not a little surprised 
at the rapid results of his privately spoken opinion. 
He saw himself seized unawares, but did not give 
himself up as beaten. 

* Dr. von Holleben's attempt to besmirch the name of Lord 
Pamicefote was the occasion for his recall. "That Holleben 
had waited until Pauncefote was dead before uttering this 
low insinuation against him caused such general contempt 
that the Kaiser, perceiving that the little plot had failed, re- 
called him at a day's notice." — Thayer's "Life of John Hay," 
Vol. II, p. 293. 



54 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

As the three governments approached more closely 
the duties of the commission, he raised more diffi- 
culties relative to the validity of the determination 
of the commission, because he demanded that a sim- 
ple plurality vote should be sufficient for the validity 
of their resolution, while Herr von Holleben stood for 
unanimity. 

At first Mr. Hay was of the opinion of the British 
Ambassador, and thus a decision of the commission 
seemed to be endangered. Great bitterness against 
England was voiced in Berlin. This bitterness rose to 
such a height that on Saturday, April ist, 1899, Count 
von Billow sent a cipher telegram to the Ambassador. 
This he wished to have published in the American 
press, through the good offices of Mr. Paul Haedicke, 
the confidential agent of the Minister for Foreign Re- 
lations and accredited representative to the Associated 
Press. 

The telegram arrived late in the afternoon at the 
embassy. While the government officials at once 
started about deciphering it a servant was sent at once 
to get me. The Ambassador, who seemed very nerv- 
ous, requested me to translate the telegram into Eng- 
lish, and in doing so to change the rude expressions 
into a milder form. This I accomplished to the full 
satisfaction of his excellency, who complimented me 
by saying I had changed a fanfare into a chamade. 

Still, the telegram, even in its changed form, was 
so sharp that I had violent palpitation of the heart 
at the thought of its dangerous results. ''According 
to higher orders," I sent it to Herr Paul Haedicke to 
publish through the Associated Press. At the same 
time, in a second telegram, I requested him on its 
receipt to acknowledge it and let me know whether 
he had succeeded. 



SOME UNWRITTEN HISTORY 55 

I sent my telegram at about a quarter past seven in 
the evening and then went home, to await there Mr. 
Haedicke's answer. It became nine, ten, eleven and 
twelve o'clock, but no word from Mr. Haedicke. Sun- 
day came and with it the Sunday paper, but in it no 
reference to Count von Billow's telegram ; no sign of 
the great sensation of the threatening break in the 
diplomatic relations between the German Empire and 
Great Britain. From Herr von Haedicke still no 
sign of life. On Monday it was the same thing, and 
finally on Tuesday afternoon I received from him a 
short telegram saying that the carrying out of the 
instructions had become unnecessary, as Lord Salis- 
bury had in the meantime acceded to the German 
proposals. 

With this announcement in my hand I hurried to 
the German Ambassador, who made a remarkable 
grimace as he read it, but was inwardly well pleased 
that the von Biilow companion-piece to the Ems tele- 
gram had never been published. And what was the 
answer to the riddle? 

On investigation by the Ambassador it was discov- 
ered that Herr Haedicke had not once during the 
whole time been seen in his office, as he was too busy 
with a beer trip, rather more extended than usual, 
through Greater New York, to trouble himself with 
such small matters as the orders of his chief in Wash- 
ington. One sees how the fate of nations often hangs 
on blind coincidences. 

In May the differences in the Samoan question were 
again sharpened to the most hazardous point. This 
time Herr von Holleben himself worked out a com- 
munique, which I translated and gave to the press. 
It read as follows : 

"After Germany and the United States had reached 



56 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

such an understanding that the commissioners might 
have left San Francisco on the 19th of May, England 
raised new difficulties of such a complicated character 
that it is not possible to explain them telegraphically. 
Germany feels, under these circumstances, justified 
in holding back the name of its commissioner. The 
Berlin announcement that Germany would ask for 
reparation for the arbitrary action of the Admiral 
Kantz finds no belief in official circles and seems to 
be an evil invention. 

''The whole question about Samoa hangs, for the 
present, not between three powers, but between Ger- 
many and England/' 

The answer made by the British Ambassador to this 
communique left nothing to be desired for sharpness. 
But the difficulties were happily once more bridged 
over. The following day Vice-President Hobart was 
buried, on which occasion both ambassadors were in 
the same carriage and at once began a lively conver- 
sation. 

The German Consul General at Samoa, secret coun- 
sel for the legation, came soon after to Washington, 
where he gave us, with a knowing smile, a number of 
newspaper articles published by E. W. Williamson 
in the San Francisco Call, a paper belonging to the 
Low-German millionaire sugar king, Glaus Spreckels. 
These articles contained an absolute justification of 
the behaviour of Mr. Rose and laid the entire blame 
for the disturbance on the English. 

A translation of this article by my pen appeared 
later in the Miinchner Neuesten Nachrichten. 

While I am speaking of the Samoan imbroglio, I 
may as well mention that by the order of the Ambassa- 
dor I requested the former American Justice of Samoa, 
Henry G. Ide, to give an opinion about the German 



SOME UNWRITTEN HISTORY 57 

claims (demands). I received by letter the following 
worthy answer: 

"St. Johnsbury, Vt., July 2, 1899. 
"Mr. E. Witte, 

"Washington, D. C. 
"Dear Sir: 

"I have not answered your letter of the 21st of April, as I 
did not consider it correct to criticise the actions of my suc- 
cessor, the Chief Justice of Samoa. In case you wish to learn 
my opinion as regards Maatasas, and as regards the question 
whether a decision in his favour corresponded to the wishes 
of one acquainted with the circumstances in Samoa, I would 
recommend you to the first pages of my article, 'The Samoan 
Imbroglio,' which will appear in the following number of the 
North American Review. 

"Sincerely yours, 

"Henry G. Ide." 



CHAPTER VI 

PUBLIC OPINION LED BY THE NOSE 

Danger of a tariff war. — What state will emerge the victor. — 
What Professor James Howard Gore thinks of it. — An 
article in The Forum. — A victory of Herr von Holleben's. 
— He hinders the establishment of Americans in Constanti- 
nople. — Whom has Germany to thank for possession of the 
Caroline Islands ? — Unhappy relations between the Ambas- 
sador and Herr von Sternburg. — More light on the presence 
of the German squadron in Manila Bay. — League between 
the Imperial Chancellor and Professor Blumentritt, pub- 
licity agent for the insurgent Filipinos. — A pithy remark 
of Plerr von Holleben. 

The danger of a tariff war between the United States 
and the German Empire is (even setting aside the 
newly arranged rulings) not yet obviated, because the 
great Chicago meat exporters are not able to overcome 
the constrictions of the law requiring the inspection 
of American canned meat exported to Germany, which 
has practically killed the trade. 

They are therefore thinking of revenge and their 
influence in Washington is stronger than that of the 
mighty German Empire. Plerr von Holleben tried, 
through his reports, to awake the belief in Berlin that 
a tariff war would be of short duration and that Ger- 
many would be victorious. He tried to instil the 
same belief into the public opinion of the United 
States, and for this purpose he won the influence of 
a professor in Columbia University, James Howard 
Gore, who wrote a long article in an American 
monthly, The Forum, on ''The Commercial Relations 

58 



PUBLIC OPINION LED BY THE NOSE 59 

between the United States and the German Empire," 
and showed therein that the United States had every 
reason to avoid a tarifif war with the German Empire. 

As the arguments and figures supporting the article 
seemed remarkably familiar to me, I made investiga- 
tions which justified my suspicions that they were the 
same arguments and figures which the Ambassador 
and his secretary were in the habit of using. Then I 
learned that the valued professor had been a passenger 
on the same ship as the Ambassador on his vacation to 
Germany, and I also saw the article when it came to 
the Embassy with the "compliments of the author." 
Of course, no blame can be attached to the editors of 
The Forum, as they accepted it in good faith and 
sincerely believed that in so doing they were serving 
the best interests of the United States. But one can 
see how even the independent American monthlies are 
not safe from the secret influence of European gov- 
ernments and how public opinion in the United States, 
as elsewhere, is led by the nose. 

It must be admitted that Herr von Holleben used 
all his influence to hinder America from getting a 
foothold in the near Orient. It had been brought to 
his knowledge that the sudden appearance of the 
United States as a competitor of Germany in its trade 
with Turkey and the Levant would cause it the great- 
est anxiety, and he busied himself to place every diffi- 
culty in the way. 

When the Turkish Ambassador to Washington, Ali 
Ferrouh Bey, made known to Secretary John Hay 
and Minister of Agriculture Wilson the desire of the 
Sultan to build in Constantinople an agricultural high 
school on the American pattern and to engage Amer- 
ican teachers for the faculty, the agricultural attache 
of the German Embassy, Baron von Hermann, received 



6o REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

a categorical order on the absolute necessity of making 
it clear to the Turkish envoy that it would not do, 
under any circumstances, to summon Americans to 
an official Turkish position. The Sultan could have 
as many German professors as he might want, who, 
besides, would be willing to accept the positions for 
half what the Americans would expect. Of those 
American teachers already named for the agricultural 
high school in Constantinople, not one made the jour- 
ney to the Golden Horn. 

It is not generally known that the German Empire 
has Baron Speck von Sternburg to thank for the pos- 
session of the Caroline Islands. While Herr von 
Holleben, during the American war and after, was 
on his vacation in Berlin, and, according to his good 
friends, was enjoying himself to his heart's content, 
the entire work and responsibility of the Embassy 
rested on the shoulders of Herr von Sternburg, who 
brought all his personal influence to bear on his good 
friend Roosevelt to have the Caroline Islands with- 
drawn from the territorial claims of the United 
States. Hardly had he succeeded in this, certainly 
not an easy task, when Herr von Holleben returned 
from his vacation and at once claimed for himself, in 
his reports to the Foreign Office, the advantage which 
Herr von Sternburg had won. So at least it was said 
by the functionaries through whose hands the state- 
ments of Herr von Holleben passed, and Herr von 
Sternburg spoke in the same vein. 

From that time the relations between the two men 
were not of the best and his excellency did not hesi- 
tate to speak before the personnel of the Embassy in 
a disparaging manner of their First Secretary, whose 
remarkably pale complexion was ascribed to an ex- 
cessive use of alcohol, an accusation entirely without 



PUBLIC OPINION LED BY THE NOSE 6i 

ground, as I am able to testify by my personal knowl- 
edge of Herr von Sternburg. 

It would have been more agreeable to the German 
Empire if to the Carolines they could have added the 
Philippine Islands in their purchase. Since the Span- 
ish-American war there has time and again come a 
denial of official and semi-official character from the 
German side of any design against Manila and the 
islands. I can testify, however, to the fact that be- 
tween the Filipinos and the Foreign Office in Berlin 
there was a secret alliance which was brought about 
by Professor Blumentritt, publicity agent in Prague 
for the insurgent natives fighting for their freedom. 

Only a few days before the German interests in the 
Philippines were placed under American protection, 
I received, to translate or perfect for the press, an 
official order which Professor Blumentritt had pre- 
pared for Count von Billow about the Filipino upris- 
ing. This account contains the most intimate details 
of the means of defence and reserves of the Filipinos, 
the ways and means of their arming and equipment, 
their possessions in munitions and means of suste- 
nance, the personnel of their leaders, etc., etc., and 
ends with the prophecy that the Americans would 
never subjugate the Filipinos, who, besides, would be 
glad to put themselves under a German protectorate. 
This last remark of the professor explains in part the 
polite attention which George Dewey and the Amer- 
ican fleet received from Admiral von Diederichs. 

When I expressed my surprise that the Ambassador 
should publish such an article at a time when Ger- 
many was seeking the protection of America for its 
interests in the Philippine Islands, I received the fol- 
lowing very significant answer: 

*'We must not allow America to become too large." 



CHAPTER VII 

THE INFLUENCE OF GERMAN-AMERICANS 

The German Ambassador and the German-American move- 
ment. — The Honourable John J. Lentz, of Ohio. — His in- 
tercourse with the Embassy. — It arouses mistrust in Ameri- 
can circles. — A policy of assembling German interests in 
America. — One-time ''renegades" attain high respect in 
Berlin. — Eighty-seven old soldiers in Texas send a tele- 
gram to the Kaiser assuring him of their loyalty and that 
of the entire German population. — The influence of Ger- 
man-Americans at the ballot box. — Prophets to right, 
prophets to left, and Germany in the middle. 

Very delicate and very subtle was the role played by 
the Ambassador in the German- American disturbance. 
''Say to the Ambassador he must keep the agitation 
well stirred up," Congressman John J. Lentz of Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, commissioned me one day to impart 
to his excellency, who only rejoined that this was 
exactly what was expected from Herr Lentz. 

I had formerly met Mr. Lentz in Herr von Stern- 
burg's house, and often met him at the Embassy. As 
he was a member of the House Committee for Military 
Affairs, and as such was cognisant of the most inti- 
mate military secrets, this intercourse made him sus- 
pected of the American side. 

Herr Lentz was an oratorical firebrand and was 
widely known as the organiser of the German- Amer- 
ican indignation meetings which took place in the 
large towns in the West and East and where the Amer- 
ican citizens of German descent or German birth were 
challenged to fight at the ballot-box every administra- 

62 



INFLUENCE OF GERMAN-AMERICANS 6^ 

tion in Washington which was not friendly to Ger- 
many. 

It was a dangerous game that Herr von Holleben 
was playing and one which later cost him his post. 
While in former times the German-x^mericans were 
never recognised by official Germany, or her repre- 
sentatives in the United States, this was suddenly 
ended with the Spanish-American war, and the once- 
despised "renegades" were made the objects of num- 
berless attentions from the Emperor and his ambassa- 
dors. Everywhere in the United States clubs were 
organised of Old German Warriors, which came into 
relation with one another and so formed a very 
formidable organisation. 

Many of these clubs had received from the German 
Emperor a flag, which was presented by the Ambassa- 
dor in person and dedicated with appropriate fes- 
tivities. 

Numberless orders and distinctions found their way 
over the ocean to the breasts of German- American 
citizens who had rendered services in the furthering 
of the German-American movement, whereby many 
remarkable mistakes arose. 

Thus Herr Halle of Chicago, who had said in pub- 
lic some things of a very unflattering nature regard- 
ing Prince Friedrich Leopold of Hohenzollern, a 
cousin of the Kaiser, found himself among the recip- 
ients of an order. 

It was naturally no more than well and good that 
these German soldier societies should choose Herr von 
Holleben as their honourary president; yet it was in- 
evitable that a painful shock should be caused in 
American circles by announcements such as, for ex- 
ample, that of the German soldiers at Brenham, 
Washington county, Texas, who, according to the re- 



64 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

port of Paul Haedicke's ''German-American corre- 
spondence," sent the following telegram to the Kaiser : 

"Eighty-seven soldiers received in a public meeting 
the medals conferred by your Majesty, and send to 
your Majesty their most sincere thanks as well as the 
assurance of their loyalty, which includes that of the 
entire German population of this country." 

There is only one plausible reason for the astonish- 
ing change of front which was adopted in Berlin 
towards the once so despised German-Americans. 
When the feeling in the United States against Ger- 
many left the worst to be feared, the German-Amer- 
ican politicians and university professors, pleased to 
start the trouble, brought it to Herr von Holleben's 
attention that there was no better weapon than the 
million German- American votes to force President 
McKinley and his administration to a policy friendly 
to Germany and antagonistic to England. 

The Democratic party also thought the opportunity 
had come to draw the German Republicans to their 
side by accusing President McKinley and his adminis- 
tration of having secretly made an alliance with Eng- 
land on purpose to force the country into a war with 
Germany. 

Herr von Holleben thought it policy, however, not 
to hurt himself with those in power in Washington, 
and gave the Democrats, at least officially, the cold 
shoulder. 

When the Germans in Baltimore celebrated ''Ger- 
man Day" and invited Count Hacke, who was then 
charge d'affaires, he asked me to represent him, as 
he must avoid being seen officially with Mr. Lentz, 
who was announced as speaker. 

I went to the festival as representative of the Em- 



INFLUENCE OF GERMAN-AMERICANS 65 

bassy, and had the doubtful pleasure of enduring an 
endless talk by the worthy John J. Lentz, in which 
he abused McKinley and his administration most un- 
feelingly. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE IMPERTINENT AMERICAN PRESS 

Antipathy of the Ambassador for American journalists. — A 
former Prussian under-officer entrusted with the reception 
of the representatives of the press. — His scanty knowledge 
of English leads to serious misunderstandings. — Shall Her- 
bert Bismarck become ambassador to Washington? — Herr 
von Holleben sniffs the morning air and stages a little in- 
trigue against the Prince. — A letter to the Washington 
Evening Star. — An astonished editor. 

A FEW general remarks as to the intercourse between 
the Embassy in Washington and the representatives of 
the American papers may be appropriate here. It is 
accepted as an established rule that joumaHsts, in 
the practice of their calling, seeking diplomatic news, 
are received either by the chief himself or by his di- 
rect representative. Most of the European diplomats 
in the American capital accept this custom and find 
it agreeable and convenient. But the German Am- 
bassador was of another opinion, and transplanted the 
Berlin system to the United States. 

Herr von Holleben hated and feared the journalists 
and avoided, as much as possible, coming in contact 
with them. It was actually easier to have an inter- 
view with the President of the United States than 
\vith the Ambassador, and only a chosen few, among 
the first of whom were Count Seckendorff and Herr 
Reginald Schroder of the New York Staats-Zeitung, 
shared the prerogative of being received by his ex- 
cellency. The rest of the whole herd of reporters were 

66 



THE IMPERTINENT AMERICAN PRESS 6^ 

received by the chancellor of the Embassy, Hofrat 
Kinne, as the secretary shared the aristocratic aver- 
sion of his chief to the newspaper calling. This man 
possessed naturally, in the eyes of those over him, 
the necessary qualifications for intercourse with the 
press, as he had been at one time a Royal Prussian 
subaltern. 

Sharp and brutal in demeanour and only insuffi- 
ciently in command of the English language, and with 
little tact, he combined all the characteristics which 
made him the most unqualified of persons for the 
reception of the journalists. 

Herr von Holleben, however, thought differently 
and the inevitable result was that Herr Kinne often 
made the most laughable mistakes and said exactly 
the opposite to what he had been instructed by the 
Ambassador. When, therefore, his excellency showed 
him the result of his work, he put the blame on the 
mala fides of the American press. 

In this way the Ambassador, as well as the Foreign 
Office in Berlin, received an entirely false opinion of 
the American press and its agents. 

As soon as a paper had published an article which 
was friendly to Germany, Herr Hofrat, as well as 
the Ambassador, at once viewed it as tributary, and 
assumed the right to ascribe to it the correct policy. 
The Ambassador often said to me : ''Explain to these 
people, as a commission from the Embassy, that they 
must write nothing disparaging to Germany if they 
wish to be on good terms w^ith the Embassy." 

Instead of being grateful for the many undeserved 
courtesies shown to the Embassy, he played the bull- 
dozing tactics of a drill sergeant. 'T will not receive 
another one of these correspondents if another attack 



68 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

on the Kaiser or Germany appears in their paper. 
I will have them thrown out of the house. Please tell 
them that." 

One may imagine how agreeable my position was 
under these circumstances, because I was obliged in 
roundabout ways to make good where Herr Kinne, 
in his Prussian roughness, had sinned. Even as the 
late Morltz Busch, I received commissions which were 
not to my taste, but which I was obliged to carry out 
*'per ordre de mufti/' As only one example : When 
in February, 1899, it was stated that Prince Herbert 
Bismarck would become German Ambassador to 
Washington and the American papers printed this 
sensational news in striking headlines, the Ambassa- 
dor commissioned me to write an article against 
Herbert Bismarck and to Say Everything Bad Pos- 
sible OF Him. It was the first order of this kind 
which I had received and, I must confess, I blushed 
for the Ambassador. 

At first I did nothing about it, as I thought that his 
excellency might not return to the idea; but in this 
respect I was greatly deceived, as Herr von Holleben 
reminded me of it not less than three times and the 
last time in such sharp tones that I was obliged to 
bite into the sour apple. 

I then sat down and wrote a communication to 
the Washington Evening Star, whose editor, Mr. 
Noyes, when he had read it, propounded the aston- 
ished question: ''What! you give me this article?" 
Whereupon I reddened and replied that the article 
came from no less a person than his excellency, the 
Imperial German Ambassador. Mr. Noyes published 
the article, which I here repeat in a German trans- 
lation : 



THE IMPERTINENT AMERICAN PRESS 69 



A CONFUSION OF BISMARCKS 

"To the Editor of the Evening Star: 

'Trince Herbert Bismarck delivered, as will be remem- 
bered, on the occasion of the great debate in the German 
Reichstag as to the relations between the fatherland and 
the United States, a speech in which he expressed himself, 
according to Berlin cablegrams, in such flattering terms on 
America and the Americans that political wiseacres on both 
sides of the Atlantic hastened to the conclusion that the 
appearance of the Prince in the Reichstag foreshadowed his 
re-entrance into the field of diplomacy and his appointment 
to the Washington ambassadorship. In view of these eulo- 
gies of Prince Herbert's speech, it is somewhat strange that 
the parliamentary reports of the newspapers just arrived 
from Germany do not bear out the cable message. For 
instance, none of the following sentences were contained in 
the cable account of the speech: 

" 'Why,' Prince Herbert exclaimed, 'should we become ex- 
cited, when, indeed, every ABC scholar must see that we 
are in the right. Either the Saratoga agreement remains in 
force, in which case we must get the most-favoured-nation 
privileges from the Americans under all circumstances, or the 
American interpretation prevails; but then a uniform treat- 
ment must take place. I refer to a speech delivered by the 
former imperial chancellor, Prince Bismarck, in 1884, on our 
relations with America, when he declared it should never be 
said that measures of retaliation might not be recurred to. 
The liberty of action of the Government would be paralyzed 
by such an attitude." 

"The reference to Frederick the Great's recognition of 
American independence and American protection of Germans 
during the siege of Paris, was made, moreover, by Prince 
Bismarck father, and not by Prince Bismarck son, who simply 
quoted it as part of his father's speech. If Prince Herbert 
appears to-day in the light of one of the most enthusiastic 
friends of the United States, this is chiefly due to a misquo- 
tation of his speech, in which the sayings of the Grand Old 
Man of Germany were most obligingly attributed to him. 

"Teuton. 

"February 28, 1899." 

The Ambassador was, I am ahiiost ashamed to say, 
delighted with this letter. 



CHAPTER IX 



HERR VON MUM MS AMBITIONS 

Herr von Mumm's aspirations to the post of ambassador to 
Washington. — The high opinion of the press. — An example 
of self-advertisement. — The art of making careers with 
newspaper clippings. — Anti-German feeling prevails during 

' Herr Mumm's presence in America. — What Count Hacke 
confided to me as explanation. — The envoy gave cham- 
pagne breakfasts with "Mumm's Extra Dry." — Inspired 
glorification of the German Imperial Chancellor. — "A 
strenuous young man." 

I ALSO received from Herr von Mumm, who replaced 
Herr von Holleben during his vacation in the year 
1899, niany similar commissions. I must say that 
Herr von Mumm understands better than any Ger- 
man diplomat of my acquaintance how to associate 
with the press. Only a few days before his arrival, 
in certain papers close to the American administration, 
appeared a notice to the effect that the President of 
the United States, William McKinley, had sent a 
manuscript letter to the German Emperor and therein 
expressed his thanks that Herr von Mumm had been 
sent to Washington. 

The form and contents of the announcement seemed 
to me so extraordinary that I immediately, as was my 
duty, drew it to the attention of the secretary of the 
Embassy and asked for an explanation. The Embassy 
people were of my opinion that the newspaper com- 
munique in question was highly striking. They, how- 
ever, thought that it could not be true and saw in the 

70 



HERR VON MUMM'S AMBITIONS 71 

announcement, in which I agreed, nothing further 
than a small and spiteful intrigue against Herr von 
Holleben. I was not a little astonished when Herr 
von Mumm, on our first meeting, began to speak of 
this article. He had heard, so he said, that it ap- 
peared in several papers, and as it had not yet been 
denied it must indeed be true. No harm could there- 
fore be done, but it would, on the contrary, help to 
bring about a good understanding between the two 
powers if my articles for German and American 
papers were constantly to draw attention to the Presi- 
dent's letter to the German Emperor. 

In the same interview Herr von Mumm took occa- 
sion to explain to me his attitude with regard to the 
press. He expressed himself as belonging to its 
greatest admirers and respecters, and he acknowledged 
without stint its worth to the public life of the people. 
He was visibly pleased when, on being questioned, I 
was able to tell him that I was the Washington corre- 
spondent of the Miinchener Nenesten Nachrichten and 
of the Vienna Politischen Korrespondenz, and assured 
me, with a diplomatic smile, that he would consider it 
of value to have his name appear often in these papers. 

This was our first interview. Afterward I met 
him many times, almost every second or third day, 
but I cannot remember a single instance in which he 
did not request me for a personal mention. If ever 
any one excelled in the art of self-advertisement, he 
did. Innumerable ''clipping agents" were paid by 
him to send him even the most insignificant newspaper 
notices concerning his personal or diplomatic heroic 
deeds (heldentaten) , and he saw to it, with painful 
care, that every clipping was preserved, registered and, 
according to its importance, several copies added, so 
that in case one should be needed it would be right 



'J2 REA-ELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

at hand. He ^ve me ten-year-old cuttings about his 
former activit}- as ch<irge d'affaires in Washington, 
in which he was praised to the sk}\ Herr von Mmnm 
used this same press apparatus in his association with 
the Foreign Office in Berlin. He conducted the nego- 
tiations to amend the conclusion of a parcel-post 
convention between the United States and the German 
Empire and saw in this, as there was nothing further 
to expect, a diplomatic masterpiece of the first order. 

But the fact is that the advantage of the agree- 
ment was greater for the Americans than the Ger- 
mans, because during this time, when the first of 
this kind of commerce was introduced, the trade bal- 
ance in the commerce of the two lands fell much to 
the advantage of Germany, but this advantage was 
changed at the time of the introduction of the Mc- 
Kioley high-tariff bill entirely to the advantage of 
the United States, and the conclusion of the parcel- 
post convention was in truth no less than a defeat 
in so far as that by it American manufacturers were 
enabled to fiood the German market with their sample 
packages, a confession that the United States in the 
first transaction had in a roundabout way beaten the 
German manufacturers. The newspapers, properly 
coached, naturally sang the praise of Herr von Mumm 
in all keys, and I was a witness on one single occasion 
to fift}* clippings (which means that number of articles 
in his praise) being sent to the Foreign Office in Ber- 
lin. The Embassy employes used to shrug their 
shoulders and smile whenever Herr von Mumm en- 
tered the room, as they knew in advance what brought 
him to them. 

The aim of Herr von Mumm's endeavour was (and 
still is) to attain the post of ambassador at Washing- 
ton. He himself confided to me that he hoped at not 



HERR VOX MUMM'S AMBITIONS -Ji 

too distant a time to go to the United States as am- 
bassador, and his satellites in the Anglo-American 
press were never tired of reiterating that he was the 
right man for the United States. 

It was a very curious fact that while the press 
campaign against Germany was silent as long as Herr 
von Mumm was minister and ambassador extraor- 
dinary plenipotentiary of the Emperor in Washing- 
ton, it broke out with the old sharpness and passion 
the moment Herr von Holleben set his foot once more 
on American soil. 

I begged the Second Secretarv-, Count Hacke, for 
an explanation of this extraordinary phenomenon and 
received from him the characteristic answer: '*Herr 
von ^lumm has accustomed these himgrv- reporters to 
his champagne lunches and now they are furious that 
they have ceased." This is the explanation of my 
noble friend, which, however, did not hit the mark. 

Herr von ^lumm continued his tactics in Germany. 
Hardly arrived in Berlin, he invited the agent of the 
Associated Press, Herr Wolff von Schierbrand, and 
his London colleague, ^Ir. Walter Xeef, then on a 
business trip, at once to a champagne dinner and 
made on these two American journalists such an agree- 
able impression that Herr von Schierbrand for half 
a year after^vard insisted that they all (that is, the 
American government and press) wanted Herr von 
Holleben removed from his post and to have Herr 
von Mumm sent in his place as ambassador to Wash- 
ington. 

The provisional incumbency of Herr von Mumm 
came to an end in the capital and he left for Xew 
York, from there to make the return journey to Ger- 
many. But even on board ship he found time to tell 
me that the X'ew York Tribune, the most influential 



74 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

paper in the United States, would publish in its next 
Sunday edition an article inspired by him, about Count 
von Billow — an article which he would like to have 
me translate and send to the Miinchcner Neuesten 
Nachrichten as well as to the Politischcn Korrcspon- 
dcnz. I promised Herr von Mumm, and both papers 
promptly published the questionable article, which in 
any case was read with as much pleasure by the Im- 
perial Chancellor as by Herr von Mumm. 

That it was Herr von Mumm who sent in to the 
newspapers all the frequent long cabled articles prais- 
ing the Kaiser is, of course, self-evident. "An ambi- 
tious young man," so Herr Marheinecke, German Con- 
sul in Philadelphia, characterised him. In fact, a 
very ambitious young man, who understands the 
great secret of making a career at any price! 



CHAPTER X 

WHAT WASHINGTON BUZZED ABOUT 

Diplomatic careers in Germany only for the nobility. — Rem- 
iniscences of the Frankfort federal diet. — A few things 
about our Bismarck. — A policy of meekness and who is 
responsible. — Herr von Sternburg knows how to pay a com- 
pliment. — What Roosevelt promised him years ago. — "Dip- 
lomatic work" in Washington. — Count Hacke excels as a 
dancer of the cotillion and serpentine. — "With what little 
sense the world is ruled!" — A witticism of the Turkish 
envoy. — I write a report for Count Hacke. — A box on the 
ears by Agricultural Attache Benno von Hermann. — I bear 
to the victim, the most feared editor in Washington, a 
remarkable apology from the Ambassador. — Herr von 
Bredow's classic report. 

The diplomatic career is to-day in Germany exclu- 
sively ^'noblest and best in the Nation," noble under- 
lined. According to my observations, nobility quali- 
fies without further requirement for the diplomat, and 
the passing of so-called examinations is nothing but 
a form, which is not too seriously carried out. 

The diplomatic dude at whom Bismarck so strik- 
ingly pokes fun in his "Congressional Sketches" is 
as effective to-day as in the time of the Holy German 
Confederacy, and when the subsequent chancellor 
wrote of his former colleagues that they always took 
on an important diplomatic official expression when 
they asked for the key of the ''Kloset," so I can only 
say that the young German diplomats in this respect 
are not to be distinguished from their Frankfort 
predecessors. 

75 



^(^ REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

The make-np of the Embassy in Washington may 
truly be considered typical of the representatives of 
the German Empire abroad, and it is not necessary 
for me to state that in characterising them it is not 
a criticism of single persons, who are perfectly indif- 
ferent to me, but the system at which I shall seek 
to strike. 

To begin at the head, his excellency, the German 
Ambassador, Herr Theodor von Holleben, born in 
Stettin, was a diplomat of the Bismarck school. He 
spent several years as resident minister in South 
America, was later envoy to Japan, and then was sent 
to Washington, whence he went -to Stuttgart for a 
"rest." 

The United States had in the meantime begun the 
work of changing its envoys to the European powers 
to ambassadors, an action which made a speaking dif- 
ference in raising the rank of the European ambassa- 
dors in the American capital. 

Herr von Holleben was the third representative of 
the German Empire who went to Washington as 
ambassador. There is to-day hardly any doubt that 
the Foreign Office would have made another choice 
if it had known how to read the signs of the times 
aright. The coming Spanish-American war threw its 
shadow before, even then, but among competent Ger- 
man diplomats there was no one who recognised the 
storm which was brewing over Cuba or gave it spe- 
cial attention. 

Just how falsely the leaders of Germany's foreign 
policies were informed of the actual state of things 
is shown in the period before and after the beginning 
of the war, when the entire German press, without 
exception of party, at a sign from the Foreign Office, 
merrily let go at the United States. 



WHAT WASHINGTON BUZZED ABOUT ^^ 

For this short-sighted poHcy Herr von Holleben 
must be made directly answerable. For the first time 
in his career he was presented with great and com- 
plicated duties and showed himself in no wise equal 
to the occasion. 

The war ended, as every wise person had foreseen, 
with the rapid victory of the United States; which 
then, for the first time, became conscious of her posi- 
tion as a world power, and as such began to exercise 
a reckless "weltpolitik." 

The German Empire now reaped the fruits of the 
short-sighted policy of its diplomats, in that it has 
since been obliged to accept a succession of humilia- 
tions from the government of the United States, 
which, for a disciple of the "mailed fist," must have 
been hard to bear. I must confess unreservedly that 
even I, the modest journalist of the Embassy, was 
often made to blush when I received commissions to 
explain to the American public the weak, lugged-in- 
by-the-ears excuses of the Ministry for Foreign Af- 
fairs for repealing one after the other a lot of silly, 
aggravating little restrictions imposed upon American 
trade. 

Herr von Holleben is also answerable for the "lick- 
spittle" policy of this period. 

The real staff of the Embassy, that is, secretaries 
and attaches, was composed of blue-blooded aristo- 
crats who looked upon it rather as an insult to live 
for a while in a democratic republic. 

Truth demands that I should here state that the 
influential circles in Washington for the most part 
look with derision and scorn on the representative 
European noblemen, as they usually see in them for- 
tune hunters and seekers for the hands of rich Amer- 
ican heiresses. 



78 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

The Foreign Office certainly does not exercise much 
political tact in sending only its noblemen as repre- 
sentatives to a republic which has discarded all the 
titles within its boundaries and made it a duty that 
any foreigner taking allegiance shall absolutely lay 
aside his title. The Americans have a scale for the 
worth of European titles, but in this the Germans 
appear quite at the bottom. 

The First Secretary, the head of the Embassy in 
the absence of his chief, was my good friend Baron 
Speck von Sternburg. ''A plain-looking, emaciated 
little man," as several American papers described him, 
he had one priceless advantage, which his German 
colleagues could not dispute him; his friendship with 
Theodore Roosevelt, the equally reckless but success- 
ful politician. He had formerly been in Washington 
as military attache, and as such had made the ac- 
quaintance of Mr. Roosevelt, who was then at the 
head of the New York police. It is said that Stern- 
burg made the remark to Mr. Roosevelt, who was 
even at that time rather susceptible to flattery, that 
he hoped some day to greet him in Washington as 
President of the United States. Whereupon Mr. 
Roosevelt returned the compliment by saying that if 
his prophecy came true he would see to it that Baron 
von Sternburg and no other should represent Germany 
in the United States. 

At the time of which I write neither dreamed of 
the role that fate had destined them to play. 

Herr von Sternburg was not considered at the em- 
bassy as in any way a bright diplomatic light, and 
was a sworn enemy of all writing, which, to the old 
soldier, presented many difficulties. 

During the period of the Spanish-American war, 
while he carried r^n the business of the Eml>assy and 



WHAT WASHINGTON BUZZED ABOUT 79 

Herr von Holleben was in Berlin on leave of absence, 
there rested on him great responsibility, which he was 
able to discharge only by the help of clever assistants. 
One of these, Prof. Hermann Schonfeld, raised the 
claim, in my presence, of being the actual originator 
and compiler of most of the reports that in the sum- 
mer of the year 1898 were sent from Washington to 
the Foreign Office in Berlin. 

Herr von Sternburg's reports received the highest 
expression of official appreciation, which was shown 
by conferring on him the Order of the Red Eagle, an 
order of the second class, and an autograph letter from 
the Emperor. 

The professor, who had been left empty handed, 
made a wry face and made all manner of captious re- 
marks about the ingratitude of German diplomats, 
and was later only quieted when I induced the Baron 
to receive him in his house. 

I have already spoken, in another place, of the dif- 
ference of opinion which existed between Herr von 
Holleben and his first secretary. The latter at times 
made bitter complaints to me about the attitude of 
his excellency and was altogether on my side in my 
conflicts with the Ambassador. His friendship for 
me at that time went so far that when I was leaving 
Washington he warned me against a letter of intro- 
duction to Prince Philip Eulenburg, which Herr von 
Holleben had given me of his own accord. 

Herr von Holleben prevented Herr von Sternburg 
from being named as German envoy to Mexico, which 
post he had confidently expected as a reward for his 
services in the Samoan affair; instead of which he was 
sent as German Consul General to hot Calcutta, where 
he would be stewing to-day if he had not warned the 



8o REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

writer against the letter of introduction to Prince 
Eulenburg from Herr von Holleben. 

The Second Secretary of the embassy was Count 
Hacke, a genuine "Markischer Junker," renowned 
through the Washington papers as an excellent cotil- 
lion leader, and that he had distinguished himself par- 
ticularly as a Hoochy Koochy dancer at the men's 
evening at the Turkish Embassy. Of this entertain- 
ment given by the Sultan's envoy, which was attended 
by nearly all the young European envoys, I was told 
by the Under-Secretary of State, David J. Hill, that 
never before had he seen so many stupid faces gath- 
ered together on one occasion, and that he was forcibly 
reminded of the words of the Swedish Chancellor, 
Oxenstjerna, "By how little wisdom the world is 
ruled." 

It was at this same men's evening, if I remember 
rightly, that Ali Ferrouh Bey coined a clever witti- 
cism at the expense of the young German diplomat. 
The two men were in a dispute, in the course of which 
Count Hacke threw the remark in the envoy's teeth : 
"Mais, Monsieur le ministre, moi, je suis Comte." 
As quick as lightning the well-armed Osmane replied : 
"Monsieur le Comte, il y a des Comtes qui ne comptent 
pas." Ali Ferrouh Bey had the laugh on his side. 
The American press had otherwise no good char- 
acteristics to publish of Count Hacke. Though he 
never made a secret of his aversion to reporters he 
did them the honour of allowing them to lay the foun- 
dation of his reports to the Foreign Office. Unfor- 
tunately, he committed the oversight of forgetting 
the newspaper clippings from which he gained his 
wisdom and thereby betrayed to the jeering govern- 
ment officers the secret of his plagiarism. 

Of the same calibre as the old Frankfort diplo- 



WHAT WASHINGTON BUZZED ABOUT 81 

mats whom Bismarck has so cleverly described, he 
sought to give the most insignificant matters an ap- 
pearance of great importance. When I had an inter- 
view with him he would first, with his own hand, 
close the door, after having assured himself that 
there was no listener outside, then he would glance 
suspiciously around the room to make sure there 
were no witnesses, sink his voice, and in flute-like 
tones lay his concern before me. I must still laugh 
heartily at the remembrance of how once, after this 
mysterious introduction, he admitted he was not in 
a position to give a report to the Ambassador, which 
the latter had asked for, concerning the result of the 
American election (which had just taken place), 
though he had collected thirty newspaper clippings on 
the subject. Finally he came out with the request 
that I would do him the favour of making the report 
for him. I promised, and wrote the report, in which 
I used the expression ''Legislatur Wahlen" (legislative 
elections). 

When I handed him the composition he asked me in 
all seriousness for an explanation of the expression. 
Imagine this secretary for the German Ambassador 
who, in spite of passing diplomatic examinations, did 
not know the meaning of the words ''Legislatur- 
Wahlen," having official intercourse with the shrewd 
representatives of the American government! 

A worthy companion-piece to Count Hacke was 
the agricultural attache of the Embassy, the Baron 
Benno von Hermann, Royal Chamberlain of Wiirt- 
temberg. Though he had book-learning, he had very 
little practical knowledge of agriculture and a mem- 
ber of the Embassy who had taken a walk with him 
in the environs of Washington said to me: "He 
gave me a pain!'' 



82 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

For his galling labours he received the nice little 
sum of 19,000 marks, entirely apart from his travelling 
expenses, etc., for the innumerable journeys he took 
in the interest of his service. He was the hero of 
numerous scandals, among others one in which he 
received a box on the ears may not be out of place 
here. Not a little astonishment was felt in the social 
circles of Washington when it became known that in 
the exclusive Metropolitan Club a fist fight had taken 
place between Herr von Hermann and the editor-in- 
chief of the Washington Post, Mr. W. 

Different reasons were given for the unfortunate 
affair. Some wished to make out that the German 
agriculturist wanted to punish the American journal- 
ist on account of insulting remarks made about the 
Kaiser. Others believed that Mr. W., who has the 
sharpest pen in all Washington, had aroused the anger 
of the Baron against him by connecting him with a 
social scandal of the day. 

Be that as it may, and probably both explanations 
had truth in them, the fact remains that Baron von 
Hermann ill repaid the hospitality of the Metropolitan 
Club, and the affair, whichever may be accepted, does 
not speak well for German diplomacy. 

The Ambassador had to suffer most, for up to that 
time the Post had been no particular friend of the 
German policy and its supporters, and from then on 
it chose the Ambassador and the Kaiser as the prin- 
cipal aim for its attacks. The affair took exactly the 
course which I had expected. Herr von Holleben 
requested me to discreetly assure Mr. W. that the 
Ambassador regretted extremely the unfortunate cir- 
cumstance; that he had spoken very seriously to Herr 
von Hermann about it, and that he would be very 
pleased to receive Mr. W. at any time at the Embassy 



WHAT WASHINGTON BUZZED ABOUT 83 

in order to repeat personally this declaration. Fur- 
ther, Herr von Hermann was not actually a diplomat, 
but only an agriculturist, a peasant, and it would mean 
paying too much attention to the person and the oc- 
currence if his recall were demanded from Berlin. 

Through the medium of a common friend I made 
the acquaintance of one of the editors of the Post, 
Captain Allen, whom I requested to explain the Am- 
bassador's statement to his chief. There were, how- 
ever, no noticeable results in the attitude of the paper. 

The second agricultural attache in my time was a 
boorish stripling, Herr von Bredon, who in a very 
short time became a popular figure in Washington. 
When I went to the Embassy, I often had the pleasure 
of meeting him before the gate where he was hav- 
ing riding horses led by and was bargaining with 
their owners for their purchase. He was tall and 
slender, with the typical Prussian lieutenant's face 
of Simplimsshnits, with a long mantle, and in high 
patent leather boots, he made, at least for the inhabi- 
tants of the capital, rather an odd impression, of 
which he was wholly unconscious. 

An amusing tale was in circulation about him, 
which came out through the indiscretion of a servant. 
In one of the few reports made by him to the agri- 
cultural minister in Berlin, he made the classic state- 
ment: 'Tn this country the horses eat as much oats 
as they please!" It did not seem to Herr von Bre- 
don to be right that even the horses in America are 
better off than in Germany. The report caused the 
greatest amusement in the narrow circles of the Em- 
bassy, and was not a small factor in bringing about 
the popularity of the author. Herr von Bredon could 
proudly say of himself that he had no enemies. His 
whole appearance, his innocent, childlike face, his blue 



84 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

eyes and his high treble voice opened the hearts of all 
the people with whom he came in contact. His term 
in Washington did not last long ; soon after the report 
on the American horse he was removed from his 
post, but returned later to marry a daughter of a 
United States Senator — lucky Hans! 

Chapter XI is omitted here. 

(This chapter deals exclusively with personal scan- 
dals in and about the German Embassy in Washington, 
which throw no light on the serious side of these 
revelations. ) 



CHAPTER XII 

MY CONNECTION IS BETRAYED 

Paul Haediche, representative of the Wolff Bureau, and 
agent of Herr von Holleben in New York, betrays the 
secret of my connection with the Embassy. — The Ambassa- 
dor won't listen to a denial. — Results of Haediche's indis- 
cretion. — My position the subject of repeated conferences 
between Ambassador and chancellor. — Count Billow satis- 
fied with my activities. — Herr von Holleben brings me 
good news from Berlin. — Three days later the situation is 
announced to me. — Herr von Holleben offers me a recom- 
mendation to the German Ambassador at Vienna. — Text 
of the letter. — Herr von Sternburg warns me. 

My own position under the circumstances described 
was not very agreeable. As a burgher among all these 
noble secretaries and attaches, I had a difficult role 
and in truth was not able to call one of them my 
friend, although nearly all of them asked me to render 
them small favours. 

Through an ill-natured indiscretion, Paul Haediche, 
who was the confidential man of the Foreign Office for 
the Associated Press and the New York representative 
of Wolff, made known the secret of my alliance with 
the Embassy, and thereby the carrying out of my 
duties became more difficult. 

It was, if I remember rightly, about two months 
after the Samoan affair, which has already been al- 
luded to in a former chapter, when one day my atten- 
tion was attracted to a long article in the Washington 
Evening Star, which described my person and my 
business with the Embassy. As it contained the most 

85 



86 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

precise information, it could only have come from 
some one "on the inside" and there were indications 
that the German-American journalist Habercorn was 
the author, having the material from Paul Haediche. 

In the article in the Star my name was not men- 
tioned, but the next day I was known through the 
length and breadth of the land, as the article ap- 
peared as a telegram in the Associated Press and 
made the round of the entire press of the country, this 
time not forgetting to give my name. 

"The German government makes concessions to the 
spirit of the times," so it was stated in the commentaries 
which were sent to the Ambassador and to me, "and 
has sent an approved German journalist who enjoys 
the special confidence of the Emperor, as adviser of 
the German embassy in Washington and has given 
him the difficult and responsible mission of bringing 
about, through the American press, a better under- 
standing of the German people and German politics." 

With this notice in my hand I hurried to the Ger- 
man Ambassador to beg of him the right to deny it. 
I said to him : "There is just as much reason for 
calling Herr WolfT von Schierbrand in Berlin an 
attache or counsel of the American Embassy there be- 
cause, as a representative of the Associated Press, he 
daily sees the American Ambassador and takes care of 
the Embassy affairs for the press, as to call me the 
German Ambassador's adviser because, as a represen- 
tative of the Norddeutscher Zeitung, I make daily 
visits to the Embassy and impart to the American 
press the news of the Embassy." 

"Things once happened cannot be changed, my 
dear sir," replied the Ambassador, "and you must 
accommodate yourself now to the position of Press 
Attache and Imperial German Embassy Adviser, if 



MY CONNECTION IS BETRAYED 87 

you wish to take care of the press business of the 
German Empire." 

Paul Haediche's indiscretion had at least led to an 
official recognition of my position, but at the same 
time (and that had been its object) it had sowed a 
mistrust of my personality in the widest circles of 
the American press. When Herr von Holleben re- 
turned from his vacation in the fall of the same year, 
he let me know through Hofrat Kinne that he had 
spoken several times about my case to the chancellor, 
and I was to remain in my position, which I had filled 
to the full satisfaction of himself and the chancellor. 
Three days later I received a notice that my services 
with the Embassy must be terminated, as the relations 
between Germany and the United States were so ex- 
cellent that it was thought unnecessary to use any 
further influence with the American press. 

I was not prepared for this information, which 
came as a complete surprise, and I can only account 
for the Ambassador's sudden change of mind by re- 
membering that in the past three days he had had an 
interview in New York with Herr Haediche, the pub- 
lisher of Wolff's Bureau. I told Hofrat Kinne that 
I had received the order. Then I tried to get a posi- 
tion as correspondent of a German- American paper, 
but without success, as my word was not accepted that 
I was no longer in the service of the Embassy. They 
saw in me now, as before, the paid secret agent of 
the German Government. 

Mr. Edgar W. Coleman, the well-known publisher 
of the Milwaukee Herald, wrote to me quite openly, 
and I took his letter to the Ambassador to show him 
in what an extraordinary position I had been placed 
by his dismissal of me. 

After reading and re-reading the letter, he turned 



88 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

to me with an engaging smile: "In case you would 
care to return to Vienna," he began, 'T would gladly 
give you a letter of introduction to Prince Eulenburg. 
I have read that the increase in the newspaper tax at 
the beginning of the year is going to bring about an 
entire change in the Austrian newspaper industry and 
I am convinced that there you will find a good field 
for your labours." 

As no choice was left to me, I accepted the Am- 
bassador's proposal. I give below the contents of the 
letter of .introduction to Prince Eulenburg, which 
Herr von Sternburg himself brought to my apartment 
and handed me with a very serious expression: 

"Washington, 3 February, 1900. 
"My dear Prince : 

"Allow me to introduce to you in the bearer of these lines 
the German journalist, Herr E. VVitte, who for the past year 
has rendered valuable services to this embassy, and who is 
now considering returning to Vienna, where he has worked 
in the past and has good connections. He wishes me to 
recommend him to your kindness, which I gladly do, in the 
hope that your Highness may have an opportunity of making 
use of his services. 

"With most respectful sentiments, 

"HOLLEBEN.'" 

"That is more than I expected," I remarked to Herr 
von Sternburg, who had observed me closely during 
my perusal of the letter. "May I look at the letter?" 
asked the Baron, who then read it slowly and thought- 
fully. 

When, about ten days later, I took leave of Herr 
von Sternburg, he laid his finger on his mouth and 
said, while looking at me with meaning: ''Beware! 
If I were in your place, I should place no confidence 
in the letter to Prince Eidenhurgf 

(Here ends the manuscript written by me in Paris.) 



CHAPTER XIII 

FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 

"Faked as telegraphed." — A formidable triple alliance. — "W. 
T. B./' "A. P." and "R. T. B."— How I entered the Renter 
service. — Romantic history of the ''King of the Telegraph." 
— The suppressed news of Lincoln's assassination. — Bis- 
marck decreed Renter's banishment. — Renter's ambitious 
son. — He wants to be a second Moses. — I become acquainted 
with Dr. Englander. — Renter offers the German Empire 
a protectorate over Colombia. — His Mohammedan Agency. 
— Beginning of the era of Anglo-American swindling in 
the German Empire. — A special telegram to the Berlin 
Lokal-Anseiger. — The Wolff Bureau and the "Golden In- 
ternational." — Subscriptions on the news of His Majesty's 
death. — Falsifications of Russian official telegrams. — The 
Vienna Foreign Office secures a direct wire to St. Peters- 
burg as a result of my article. — More light on the Asso- 
ciated Press. — The "A. P." refuses publication to a denial 
by von Billow. 

In the foregoing section I have repeated that the 
Wolifschen Tepeschen Bureau in Berlin is known to 
all the German newspaper readers as W. T. B. or 
"Continental Telegraphen Gessellschaft" and to the 
Americans as the Associated Press. 

As the world has very little knowledge of these two 
offices, as well as the Reuter Bureau in London, al- 
though well accustomed to seeing the initials which 
designate them, "W. T. B.," "A. P.," "R. T. B.," 
daily on their papers, I believe I am doing the public 
in general a great service if at this point I give a 
rather detailed account of the three companies' incor- 
porated "ring," the telegraph news bureau, and their 

89 



90 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

workings, which are often dangerous for the well 
being and peace of the peoples, before proceeding with 
my personal experiences in Vienna. 

My revelations will create surprise, consternation 
and agitation on both sides of the ocean, and I hope 
will lead to a reform of the existing almost unbeliev- 
able situation. 

Fate led me into many personal relations with the 
three companies and their managers, and therefore I 
do not hesitate to be fully responsible for what I 
here state. 

I will begin with the Renter Bureau, as my rela- 
tionship to this was responsible for my whole future 
and laid the foundation of numerous entanglements 
into which in later life I was drawn against my will. 
It certainly was no lucky day for me, as at the end 
of January, 1891, when I was in Constantinople as 
correspondent for the Vienna Fremdemhlatt, the Hani- 
biirgischen Borsenhalle, the Frankfurter Journal and 
numerous other papers, I received an offer, quite un- 
sought by me, to become connected with the Renter 
Bureau in London. 

''We have been looking for you for half a year in 
all the capitals of Europe," so the letter ran, *'to offer 
you a permanent position, well paid, as publisher for 
us of the Allgemcinen Korrcspondcn::^, for the Ger- 
man Empire, Austria and Switzerland. If you are 
in a position to accept our proposal, we beg you to 
notify us by wire, through our reporter there (in 
Constantinople), Herr Caesar Moffer, and at once 
start for London." 

The offer put me in rather a dilemma, but I finally 
decided, after discussing the matter with my friends, 
that I ought not to forego the chance, and I ac- 
cepted. 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 91 

Of the inner situation and general workings of the 
Renter offices, I had then as httle idea as the great 
majority of newspaper readers, who read the news 
in the papers with no definite notion as to how it finds 
its way there. 

Even a man of Dr. Joseph Eugene Russell's ex- 
perience, whose connection through long years with 
the Kolnischen Zeitung as editor and later as Vienna 
correspondent, was not able to inform me, when I 
visited him while passing through Vienna to London 
and asked him to tell me something of Baron von 
Renter. He was only able to reply that he thought 
the Reuters were an old Dutch noble family who, 
among others, had the Admiral de Ruyter as ances- 
tor. This was absolutely false. 

The founder of the Telegraph Bureau which is 
named after him was born in 182 1 in Cassel, of poor 
Jewish parents who bore the name of Josaphat. In 
early youth he was thrown on his own resources, his 
whole wealth for his journey in life consisting of a 
careless, imperturbable, fearless spirit of adventure, 
and this dowry he knew so well how to use that at 
his death he left an estate of many millions pounds 
sterling. 

I am not sure whether Bismarck's pungent state- 
ment, "Lied as telegraphed," referred to Paul Julius 
Renter, who, after the war of 1866, was banished from 
Berlin for anti-Prussian intrigue in connection with 
the western agent, Oskar Meding, but never did the 
creator of the German Empire speak truer words. 

The muse of history has hung a kindly veil over 
the first business undertaking of the young Renter, 
alias Josaphat. In the published biography of the 
"Telegraph King," the stress and storm period of his 
life is passed amiably over and it only touches lightly 



92 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

on the fact that in Gottingen he was in a bank and later 
was a partner in a pubHshing firm in BerHn. 

He then went to London, in a roundabout way 
through Aix-la-Chapelle, Paris and Brussels, and in 
the year 1851 he founded his ''Bureau." 

After he had founded a carrier-pigeon service in 
Aix, which, however, failed after the invention of the 
telegraph by Werner Siemens, Reuter and his wife 
went to Paris, where they became acquainted with Dr. 
Sigmund Englander, one of the '48-ers who had been 
sentenced to death in Vienna on account of his having 
taken part in the revolution, but who had fled and 
found a position in the French capital on the Agence 
Havas. Dr. Englander, who was always a great 
admirer of beautiful women, sympathised with the 
young married people, who were in very straitened 
circumstances, and found employment for Reuter, for 
the time being, in Brussels, while his interesting wife 
remained alone in the Babel on the Seine. 

After a while Reuter was unable to make a living 
in Brussels and so he moved with his family to Lon- 
don, where Dr. Englander soon followed them, as, 
having taken part in a conspiracy, he was obliged to 
fly for his life. 

Together they founded the "Bureau Reuter," of 
which the only capital was Dr. Englander, as the 
head and soul, and Julius Reuter with his business 
talent. But with all the pains Reuter might take, 
running to the different publishers and representing 
himself as a former political despatch carrier con- 
troUing important inside relationships with European 
governments, the young industry was unable to ge! 
a start. It was constantly getting into difficulties, 
and, as one possessed, Julius Reuter went from one 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 93 

to another of his friends in order to collect a few 
pounds. 

My authority for these facts is a worthy old Jew, 
Herr Louis Bamberger, who at that time was living 
in London as secretary to the ''Diamond King," and 
with him helped to found the Deutsche W ochenschrift 
Hermann. *'How deep I have dug into my pockets," 
the old man told me, "when Renter would come whin- 
ing aroimd! And how did he reward my kindness? 
If to-day he were to stand before me I should say to 
him, 'Stand in front of the mirror and spit at your- 
self in the face !' " 

Things for the first time became better when Dr. 
Englander succeeded in concluding a new secret con- 
nection with Napoleon III. The first of January, 
1859, came, on which the Emperor insulted the Aus- 
trian Ambassador at the New Year's reception. An 
hour later the words of his speech were in Renter's 
hands, who knew the best possible use to make of it. 

The Times, which up to that day had never ac- 
cepted a single Renter announcement, ordered an ex- 
tra edition of its paper with the sensational news, 
and Renter's fortune was made. 

Still more important, and more productive finan- 
cially for Renter, was the news of the murder of the 
American President Lincoln, which he, in all Europe, 
received first and exclusively. James Heckscher of 
Hamburg was at that time the Renter agent in New 
York, and received the news of the shooting just after 
the mail steamer had sailed. He did not hesitate, 
but chartered a special tug, followed the steamer, 
reached it and handed the captain the announcement 
to be delivered to Renter. 

There was no cable at that time between the Old 
and the New World, and Reuter had a period of 



94 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

several days before the arrival of another steamer. 
As might be expected, he did not give the news to 
the press, but took advantage of it on the Board of 
Trade, where he, in connection with some friendly 
bankers, made a tremendous haul. He had not studied 
in vain the history of the founder of the Rothschild 
house, w^ho watched the battle of Waterloo from a 
hill and at the moment when he became convinced that 
Napoleon had lost hurried back to London, where 
as yet no one had an idea of the English-German vic- 
tory, and where by a judicious use of the news he 
gained millions on the Exchange. 

A giant stroke of Renter's was the laying of the 
cable from Lowestoft to Norderney. In connection 
with Oskar Meding, Renter was able by all kinds of 
juggling to obtain in an underhand way the concession 
for this cable from the blind king George of Hanover, 
for the benefit of which he changed his ''Bureau" 
into a joint stock company with a capital of 250,000 
pounds sterling. The stock was worth about 25 
pounds sterling, and from this sum 100,000 pounds 
was spent on the laying of the cable. This cable 
Renter allowed an English telegraph company to use, 
which received for a cablegram of twenty words the 
sum of two marks, while the rest, or four marks, re- 
mained for the Renter company. In the year 1869, 
all the English Atlantic cables were bought up by the 
English government; and after a long contest on 
both sides the sum of 726,000 pounds sterling was 
paid to the Renter Company for the Lowestoft-Nor- 
derney, whereby the company was in a position to call 
in their 25-pound sterling stock, pay the stockholders 
about 80 pounds for every share, and notably reduce 
the capital and place the stock on an eight per cent 
basis. 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 95 

Renter, who at the beginning held 3,000 shares of 
his own stock, remarked with a beaming countenance, 
when the transaction had been happily completed: 
'That's what I call business." Then he turned to 
Dr. Englander, as he himself told me later, with the 
words : ''You see, Sigmund, if you had made a 
written contract with me, you would now have a 
million marks from me. But as you have no contract, 
you must take what I see fit to give you of my own 
accord." 

Dr. Englander remained as general manager in 
the service of the company, but from that day on 
never exchanged a word with Julius Renter. 

Even more Reuter-like was Renter's Persian specu- 
lation. It is not generally known that Nasr-ed-Din, 
Shah of Persia, undertook his first tour of Europe at 
the inducement of the "Telegraph King." The money 
for this journey, which amounted to 300,000 pounds 
sterling, flowed from Renter's pocket, who, as a re- 
ward, received all the concessions that the Shah had 
to dispose of in his kingdom — concessions of far- 
reaching political consequence which led to a diplo- 
matic controversy between Russia and England, the 
latter naturally standing entirely on the side of its 
protege. It was the proudest moment in the life of 
Julius Renter, Baron by the grace of Duke Ernest of 
Saxe-Coburg, when he signed the questionable con- 
tract — a moment which has been immortalised in oil 
by the brush of the London portrait painter, Rudolf 
Lehmann. The Imperial Bank of Persia is, for ex- 
ample, one of the Renter enterprises in Persia. 

Julius Renter and Dr. Wolff, a partner in Wolff's 
Bureau, and owner of the Berlin National Zeihing, 
had originally come to an agreement which defined 
accurately for each side its business sphere and made 



96 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

it impossible for one side to compete with the other. 
This understanding expired and Renter opened, in 
secret understanding with Oskar Meding, a Bureau of 
his own in BerHn, which was intended to represent 
Guelph interests. Dr. Wolff answered the attack of 
his competitors by opening a Bureau of Jiis own in 
London. There now began a lively war of the des- 
patch offices, which on both sides was not always 
fought with honourable weapons. 

The actions of Renter's Bureau became too rich 
for Count von Bismarck and he decided to close it 
up. In this difficult position Dr. Englander showed 
himself to be Renter's right hand and a fully devel- 
oped one, too. He went to Dr. Wolff and asked for 
a private inter^-iew, in the course of which he re- 
gretted the competition between the two offices and 
declared himself ready to effect the abolishment of 
the Renter Berlin agency, if Wolff would abolish his 
in London and would cede to Renter a part of his 
stock. That he was able to move Dr. Wolff to accept 
this proposal which gave to the owner of Reuter's 
Bureau a much greater influence in Prussian politics 
and Prussian high finance than under its former cir- 
cumstances, is, of all his ''noble deeds," the one on 
which Dr. Englander most prides himself. 

To revenge himself on Bismarck and to have a 
weapon against the Prussian government in hand, 
Renter bought the AUgemeinen Korrcspondens, which 
had been called into being by Dr. Schlesinger, a Lon- 
don correspondent of the KoJnischcn Zcitiing, but 
which had been entirely divested of its fighting char- 
acter when I took charge of the publication. 

The old smoke-blackened house, number 24 Old 
Jewry, in which is established Reuter's Telegraph 
Company, Limited, does not make a favourable im- 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 97 

pression on the visitor, with its narrow, steep stairs 
and low, dark rooms. It is full of gloomy secrets 
and in the dark corners seem to lurk the ghosts of 
exchange panics which have been brought about by 
Renter's telegrams. In this house work is uninter- 
rupted, day and night, in a breathless and heavy at- 
mosphere. Numerous young boys in grey messenger 
uniforms run up and down the stairs and inform the 
reporters of the despatches sent out from the office. 

In this environment the present director general, 
Herbert de Renter, grew up — a man of medium size 
and, in my time, slender form with reddish hair and 
moustache, restless blue eyes and pleasant manners. 
He appeared to the casual observer to embody the 
type of German-Jew business man transplanted to 
English soil, who no longer wishes to be reminded of 
his origin. 

The laurels of his father do not permit of his sleep- 
ing. The victim of a demon pride, his mind is day 
and night fastened on the idea of being the founder 
of a new dynasty of finance barons, mightier and 
stronger even than Rothschild in Europe or Vander- 
bilt and Rockefeller in America. To this end are 
all his strivings. Every morning at eleven he appears 
punctually at the office, and even in the night he 
allows himself no rest, studying till after two o'clock 
the latest publications in the field of literature and 
science, so far as they can be of value to him. He 
was educated in French and German universities and 
polished in the highest degree in a business way by 
his father and Dr. Englander. 

x\t the suggestion of Dr. Englander there was 
founded in 1892 the ''Department for International 
Publicity," through which the Renter Bureau offered 



98 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

its services to all who desired "publicity" and were 
able to pay for it. This was only one of the innu- 
merable undertakings by which the son tried to equal 
his father, if not to excel him. 

At this time Herbert Renter asked me for an inter- 
view and, over a cup of coffee and a Havana cigar, 
made me the offer of the direction of the Agency in 
Berlin for the Company. He was in very good spirits 
and let himself out, as was often the case with him. 
"Do you know," he said, at the end of our interview, 
"that I appear to myself to be the new Moses?" 

"No, that I have not known, Herr Baron; and I 
frankly confess that I do not understand what you 
mean by this comparison." 

"I will tell you," he answered. "Moses, in the 
Old Testament, saw the promised land, as you per- 
haps remember from your Bible; but the promised 
land in the distance and did not reach it ; but I, 
as the new Moses, wish to enter the promised land 
and will get there." 

"Be assured of my best wishes," was my reply, 
"for its accomplishment." 

"And now, Herr Witte, allow me to congratulate 
you on your appointment as our Berlin Director. You 
have lately married, and this shall be the Company's 
wedding present." 

"Your goodness overwhelms me, Herr Baron," I 
replied, "but I am perfectly content with my present 
position and have no desire to give it up and go to 
Berlin. I should indeed prefer to remain here." 

Herbert de Renter's eyes flickered uneasily. "But 
it is our — my wish that you go to Berlin and take 
charge of our interests there." 

"Will you give me your word, Herr Baron, that I 
will not regret it if I accept your offer?" 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 99 

'T give you my word," was his reply, "that you will 
have nothing to regret if you accept our offer." 

'T will accept." 

In Berlin I met for the first time Dr. Englander. 
Up to that time I had known him only by hearsay. 
In the London office my colleagues told me that Dr. 
Englander had been sentenced to death in his country 
for high treason and only by the merest chance had 
escaped making an unpleasant acquaintance with the 
hangman. 

The scene of our first meeting will always remain 
in my memory. Dr. Englander had a suite of rooms 
in the well-known pension Herzberg. I sent in my 
card and a young girl showed me in. As I opened the 
door, a peculiar spectacle met my eyes. A man serv- 
ant and a young woman were engaged in lifting and 
lowering one of the old man's legs. The young woman, 
attired in a most bewitching negligee, was strikingly 
beautiful, and hung over him in a most affectionate 
manner. The old man, who was none other than Dr. 
Englander, asked me to be seated a moment till the 
operation was over. This lasted a few moments 
longer, then the servant took an order to get a carriage 
for a certain time. The young woman disappeared 
into a neighbouring bedroom, and I found myself alone 
with the intellectual "founder and general representa- 
tive" of Renter's Bureau. Visibly strengthened, he 
rose from his seat. "I am glad you have come," he 
said; "I have just received an important order for 
you from Herr von Renter, and to show you how much 
you have our confidence you may read the letter in 
the original." 

With these words he held out the letter to me, which 
I read thoughtfully and with interest. He was de- 
lighted, so wrote Herr von Renter, to impart to his 



100 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

dear good Dr. Englander, who was always his only 
tme friend and adviser, that he had been able to pro- 
cure a concession for a million, six hundred thousand 
acres of land in the United States of Colombia, for 
settlement purposes. He had been able to put the deal 
through with the assistance of the Colombian envoy 
to London, who had received for his share a very 
handsome tip, and now he was anxious to secure Ger- 
man colonists for the lands. To get the matter started. 
Dr. Englander would be so good as to send Herr 
Witte to the Foreign Office, and have him there make 
the announcement that he. Baron Herbert von Renter, 
would like to offer to the German Empire a protecto- 
rate over Colombia like that which England exercised 
over India. Though he was now an English citizen, 
Herr von Renter had not forgotten his German origin 
and he w^ould like to show his love for the land of his 
fathers by making this offer first and exclusively to 
the German Empire. He asked at the present no re- 
turn, except this — which was in the interest of the 
State — that the German Empire should turn the tide 
of emigration which was flowing into the U. S. A. at 
least partially toward Colombia, where a new Ger- 
mania across the sea woidd appear under the sover- 
eignty of the old Empire. 

In a postscript, Herr von Renter added for Dr. 
Englander's information that originally he had got 
the concession with the good purpose of selling it to 
his friend, Baron Hirsch, who at that time had in 
mind a great project for colonising the persecuted 
Russian Jews, but Baron Hirsch did not warm up to 
either the people or the land of Colombia, and so there 
was nothing left to do but look around for German 
colonists. 

I went to the Foreign Office and developed there 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU loi 

Baron Renter's plan. The idea was received with 
coolness, however, and refused. Not much faith was 
placed in the assurances and suddenly awakened friend- 
ship of the London "Telegraph King" for the German 
Empire. But if one had been able at that time to 
look into the future and see that the United States of 
America would one fine day make itself comfortably 
at home there, the answer would possibly have been 
different. 

What Herr von Renter did later with the conces- 
cion, whether he was able to arouse interest in his 
plan with this or that European power, I am not able 
to say; but at any rate the possession of a conces- 
sion of a million, six hundred thousand acres of land 
in the United States of Colombia is in the hands of 
Herr von Renter, or whichever power he has trans- 
ferred it to, and is in position, under certain circum- 
stances, to make valuable claims which are not consist- 
ent with the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine and will 
thereby be the germ of serious developments with the 
United States. 

At the same time with the letter from Baron von 
Renter which contained the news about the concession, 
Dr. Englander handed me several other documents 
with the request that I carefully note their contents. 
I would thereby be able to judge how great his con- 
fidence in me was. I read, and my eyes became larger. 
I actually asked myself whether I were awake or 
dreaming. What I read seemed to me so extraordinary, 
so romantic, almost unbelievable, and yet I held the 
proof in my hands. 

At that time England had just extended suffrage, 
by which an Indian, Porsen Dadobhai Naoroji, from 
Bombay, was elected in the London suburb of Fens- 
bury. A hue and cry was raised in all Great Britain. 



102 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

The Times called this election a "romantic" event, 
if one might speak of a matter of politics as romantic, 
and the majority of English, as well as foreign, papers 
expressed themselves in the same manner. In the let- 
ter which Dr. Englander handed me, I unexpectedly 
discovered the answer. 

This is about what was in the letter : 

''Dear Dr. Englander: You have undoubtedly 
heard of the election of the Indian Dadobhai Naoroji 
in Fensbury. I will now tell you, as a secret, that this 
election is my work. Herr Naoroji and I have founded 
a Mohammedan agency for fructifying politically and 
financially the reform movement in Islam, which has 
caused headache to so many statesmen, and with which 
the strange appearance in England of proselyting to 
Mohammedanism is in the closest relation. 

'The final aim of the Mohammedan Agency has in 
view: 

"i. To use the proselyting in England and the re- 
form movement in India in order to awaken anew 
throughout the entire Mohammedan w^orld the belief 
that Islam is called once more to conquer the world, 
and that the faithful of the prophet are chosen to be 
the rulers of the world. 

"2. To use the Moslemite proselytism in England as 
the starting point of a new Hedschra, with the idea 
of making London and Liverpool, for all believers who 
make the great pilgrimage to England, a visible proof 
of the spreading of Islam in the Occident, and par- 
ticularly in the home country of the 'Emperor of 
India.' 

"3. To sow dissatisfaction with their lot among the 
Mohammedan inhabitants of Asia Minor and to arouse 
in them the desire of a union with their brothers in 
India." 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 103 

Thus, in general terms, is the programme of the 
"Mohammedan Agency" which was suddenly unfolded 
before my eyes in the letter of Herr von Renter. It 
had naturally not been the intention of Dr. Englander 
to give me the information in this letter, but he was 
an old man and sometimes his memory was at fault. 
That is the only way I have of explaining this ap- 
parent show of trust, which placed Herr von Renter 
before one in quite a new light. So he wished not 
alone to become a new Moses but also a new Mahomet ! 
And the "Mohammedan Agency" worked with this 
goal in view. That in the meantime it has experi- 
enced many developments and expansions, the facts 
show. It also accounts for the outbreak of unrest 
among the Mohammedan inhabitants of India, as well 
as the ferment among the inhabitants of Egypt. Dur- 
ing my stay in Berlin I asked Dr. Englander as to his 
political beliefs. ''Speaking personally, I am an anar- 
chist," he replied, "and as such it gives me fiendish 
pleasure to lead a monarchical government by the nose, 
as much as I am able; and besides, to make it pay 
well." These words brought to my mind what I had 
been told concerning him in Constantinople, where he 
was still well remembered from his former activities 
as chief of the Renter Bureau. 

Dr. Englander remained in Berlin four weeks. I 
then accompanied him and his beautiful "niece" to 
the station, where, at the last moment, she confided 
to me under seal of secrecy that in a short time she 
was going to marry "Granny," as she called the old 
man. "Are you really in earnest?" I asked her. "Yes, 

he is already so old and ." About two months 

later the Times had the announcement of their mar- 
riage. 

One of the many strange undertakings of the "Tele- 



104 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

graph King" is shown in the commission which I re- 
ceived from London shortly after the departure of Dr. 
Englander. I was asked to negotiate a loan on 
the Berlin exchange of sixteen million marks, for a 
Spanish railroad undertaking, the "North of Spain & 
Valencia Railway." With the prospectus which had 
been sent me, I went to Dr. Diedrich Hahn, then sec- 
retary of the Deutschen Bank, whom I had met for- 
mally, and asked for his assistance. He read the 
prospectus, took it to Dr. Siemens, the first director of 
the Deutschen Bank, but returned with the answer that 
he was exceedingly sorry not to be able to help Mr. 
Reuter in this matter. I then sought Director Hol- 
lander of the Dresdner Bank, who carefully read the 
prospectus, shook his head, and made this noteworthy 
answer: "Do you know, if this were signed by the 
good God himself, who is truly a good corporation, 
we would not touch the business." 

The affair did not go through. If it had there 
would not have been one pfennig for the stockholders. 
Through my intercession there came about an agree- 
ment between Isador Loewe and Reuter, by which 
these two became the "general representatives of the 
German weapon and munition factory" for the coun- 
tries of Persia, Egypt and Colombia. 

As a consequence of my exertions there was a fur- 
ther agreement made between Halske, Siemens and 
Reuter, by which the agents of Reuter were enabled, 
as representatives of Siemens and Halske, to make the 
first bid on contracts for electrical machinery. By 
the special wish of Herr Reuter, I also made a deal 
between his office and the Deutschen Bank in Berlin, 
which latter had a particular interest for Reuter in 
regard to quotations of the stock of a Johannesburg 
gold mine company (Adolph Gorz & Company). "We 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 105 

will inform your office in the usual way," Dr. Steinthal 
said to me, and so it happened. I may remark here 
that for this sort of work I never received a penny. 
One more example will serve to open the eyes of the 
reader to the shrewd means used by the Renter Bureau 
to gain its ends, and to show what value the Renter 
Telegrams possess. My English colleague, Gordon 
Smith, who afterward played such an unenviable role 
in the much-talked-of libel suit of the New York Herald 
against three Berlin dailies, the Postj Neueste Nach- 
richten and Deutsche Tageszeitiing, appeared one day 
with a letter for me from Herr Renter and asked my 
assistance in placing certain news matter contained 
in the letter in a Berlin paper, and then to telegraph 
it back to London as the original news of this paper. 
I assured him in very definite terms that I should for- 
bid any more offers of that kind being made to me, 
whereupon he replied that in that case he would send 
twenty marks to a well-known London correspondent 
of the Lokal Anzeiger, who would certainly make 
the announcement in his paper. After two days there 
appeared on Friday, the 20th of January, 1893, i^ the 
evening edition of the Berlin Lokal Anzeiger, the fol- 
lowing telegram: 

"(From our foreign correspondent.) 

"London, Jan. 20. 
"I have learned from a perfectly reliable source that the 
reason of the hesitation in the emission of the Bulgarian 
loan in London, which was to have taken place last Decem- 
ber, is that certain difficulties have arisen. It is thought 
that the securities are not sufficient for the obligations." 

The same evening Mr. Gordon Smith telegraphed 
the ''Londoner-Special-Telegramm" of the Berlin 
Lokal Anzeiger, to the Renter Bureau, and on the next 
day the startling news was to be read in all the great 



io6 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

papers of England and the continent of the doubtful 
condition of Bulgarian finances. 

The transparent reason for this manoeuvre was to 
force the Bulgarian minister of finance to make use 
of the accommodation of the group of international 
''finance barons" closely connected with Renter, and 
further, to give the Renter Bureau charge of the dis- 
posal of the notices of emission. By such intrigue as 
this the weal or woe of a nation often hangs. The 
stand taken in this case by the Renter Bureau was even 
more questionable because the Bulgarian government' 
had tried to assure the good-will of Renter by the con- 
cession of extraordinary privileges, such as the free 
use of the Bulgarian state telegraph line within the 
boundary of the principality, the payment of tele- 
graph costs to London, naming of the Renter agent 
as director of the official Agence Balcaniqiie, prefer- 
ence in the despatching of all Renter telegrams, and 
giving to Renter the entire business of the ministers 
and public institutions. As there was no end to the 
questionable commissions which Renter presented to 
me, I wrote him a letter in which I requested him 
in plain German, either to give me a position where 
no swindling was required or to accept my resignation. 
As a revenge. Renter brought suit against me, which 
lasted several years and from which I came out vic- 
torious. Dr. Munchel, the lawyer who first repre- 
sented Renter, withdrew from the case. 

From that time I have been pursued by an implac- 
able hatred by the International Telegraph Bureau 
and its leaders, who in order to satisfy their personal 
dislike of me have not hesitated to set at naught the 
highest interests of the German Empire, as well as 
those of the United States, and to risk them in the 
game. 



1 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 107 

A strange light is thrown on the relations of ex- 
change between the Renter Bureau in London and 
Wolff's Bureau in Berlin, as well as the inner organi- 
sation of the latter, in an article which appeared in 
Black and White, written by a former Berlin Times 
correspondent, Charles Lowe, who certainly was well 
informed. This notable English journalist expresses 
himself about Wolff's in the following manner : 

" 'Wolff' is a joint stock company which is composed of 
some of the first Jew bankers of Berlin, and, naturally 
enough, the members of this company demand for them- 
selves the first right to examine all important telegrams; 
a right whose tremendous significance for the international 
politics and the international finance of the two worlds is 
obvious. 

''Wolff's Bureau is a semi-ofificial institution, the recognised 
organ of the Prussian and German governments. 'Do ut 
des,' or 'quid pro quo,' is the fundamental principle which 
rules its relation to the two governments whose henchman 
and mouthpiece it is at the same time. 

"There is often a great deal said in very disparaging 
language in Berlin about the 'Reptile Press,' which, as a mat- 
ter of fact, probably exists only in the agencies quoted. Not 
that 'Wolff's' receives a subsidy from the government reptile 
fund. To a newspaper, a payment in news is worth as much 
or more than a payment in pure gold. Of what, then, does 
this payment consist? First and foremost that 'Wolff's Bu- 
reau' shall have the priority in publishing all the incoming 
and outgoing government telegrams, a consideration which 
is, of course, of the highest importance for a telegraph 
bureau. Further, the government makes use of 'Wolff's' 
as its mouthpiece when it wishes to publish a denial, to 
influence public opinion, or to publish news in a particular 
form for the world — especially for the world outside of 
Germany — which is very easily accomplished through 
'Wolff's.' 

"Louis Schneider, an under officer, and later court coun- 
cillor, who was reader to Emperor William I, rendered a 
striking service at the founding of 'Wolff's' bureau by con- 
vincing the king of the national necessity of a semi-official 
despatch bureau, so that he used his whole influence to accom- 
plish the design; yes, even went so far as to write, on 
March 4, 1865, the following to Dr. Wolff: 



io8 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

" 'Your plan which has been laid before me of the exten- 
sion of the telegraph office into a joint-stock company, as an 
English company is about to do, has my entire approval, and 
it would please me much if certain approved patriotic finan- 
ciers, such as Herr von Oppenfeld, von Magnus, Bleichroe- 
der, were to join you in this affair. It appears to me very 
essential and necessary that in Prussia such an institution 
should be created, to be able to offer opposition to England. 

"'(Signed) Wilhelm.'" 

Thanks to this expression from an almighty source, 
the ''patriotic financiers" did not delay longer to hand 
out to Dr. Wolff the two million dollars necessary for 
his project. With this he founded a limited liability 
company, which in 1871 was transformed into an 
out-and-out stock company. That the "patriotic finan- 
ciers" got the worth of their money in this deal ap- 
pears from the foregoing observations of Herr Lowe. 
The amalgamation of the "twin worlds of interna- 
tional politics and international finance," as the former 
Times correspondent calls it, is to-day not limited to 
London and Berlin, but spreads much further. Simi- 
lar agreements to those between Wolff and Renter 
exist also between these and the official and semi- 
official telegraph bureaus of other European countries, 
as the Agence Havas in Paris, the Imperial Royal Tele- 
graph Correspondence Bureau in Vienna, the Northern 
Telegraph Bureau in St. Petersburg, the Agenma Ste- 
fani in Rome, the Agence Roumaine in Bucharest, the 
Agence de Constantinople in the Turkish capital, the 
Agence Balcanique in Sofia, etc. Through agreements, 
in which are provided heavy penalties, each of the 
above bureaus is bound to make accessible to the press, 
in unaltered form, the despatches sent to it by the 
agents of any bureau belonging to the ring. 

Doubtless the patriotism of those men, who are 
dubbed "the golden internationals," is a capital invest- 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 109 

ment which bears good interest. The principal stock- 
holders of the ''national" Wolff's Bureau are the bank- 
ing houses of S. Bleichroeder, whose head, Dr. Paul 
von Schwabach, Jr., is the English General Consul, 
and Herbert von Renter, chief of the English Tele- 
graph Bureau, whose anti-Germanism is a fact beyond 
any doubt. Other stockholders are the banking houses 
of Mendelsohn, Warschauer, etc. The general direc- 
tor is the Austrian, Dr. Mantler, Jr., and until a few 
years ago the chief editor was Dr. O. Runge, a Ger- 
man-Russian. A most singular picture this, that the 
"national" German Telegraph Bureau presents in the 
assembly of its stockholders and its responsible leaders, 
and a most joyful outlook for the future! From the 
foregoing, as well as the following observations, I 
draw the conclusion as to the danger to state and 
people in the activities of the "golden internationals," 
which imperil the foundations of the state far more 
than all the anarchistic propaganda of the land. The 
men who are interested in the Telegraph Bureaus 
know no fatherland; they think and feel internation- 
ally, their family connections are scattered over the 
whole world, in Berlin and Paris, in Rome as well as 
St. Petersburg and Vienna, in London as well as New 
York. War and danger of war constitute for these 
men the most favourable opportunity to fish in troubled 
waters, and it would be insane to expect of them that 
they would allow to go by unimproved any of the 
"golden" opportunities which ofifer. 

In lawsuits it has been shown repeatedly that the 
WoW Bureau holds back in the interests of its stock- 
holders important news of political or financial weight, 
so that the "patriotic financiers" may be In a position 
to make profitable deals on the international stock 
exchanges on the tips they thus receive; it was estab- 



no REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

lished further that the Foreign Office gives to the Wolff 
Bureau the throne speech of the Kaiser at the opening 
or the closing of the Reichstag several hours before 
the publication, so that this most important document 
may be used by its favoured stockholders without los- 
ing a moment. Reichstag, press and public receive 
knowledge of it only several hours later. 

In spite of what I have cited already, it may still 
cause some astonishment that this ^'national" Tele- 
graph Bureau does not blush to receive private sub- 
scriptions for the prompt telegraphic advice of the 
death of the present Kaiser, Wilhelm II. As Karl 
Wedekind, Dr. Mantler's predecessor as general direc- 
tor of the company, told me years ago, the number of 
these subscribers even then amounted to 5,000! 

The Imperial Chancellor and the Foreign Office, 
who otherwise are slow in taking a joke, and on oc- 
casions where it is often uncalled for are infinitely 
touchy, appear hard of hearing and dense, as soon as 
the "national" Wolff Telegraph Bureau and its dark 
machinations come into question. The responsible 
leaders of German politics would do well to follow 
the example of the Austro-Hungarian government, 
which did not hesitate to break off existing relations 
with the Wolff Bureau for the receipt of Russian tele- 
grams and to open a wire of its own for Russian news, 
when I, years ago, pointed out in the Vienna Deutsche 
Zcitung on the occasion of two flagrant examples the 
dangerous character of the Wolff Bureau. 

(The author proceeds to describe in great detail 
two despatches covering international news from St. 
Petersburg which were distorted by the Wolff Bureau^ 
he claims, for stock-market purposes.) 

It seems almost incredible but it is a fact, a fact in 
spite of Heaven and its angels, that the Woljf Bureau 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU iii 

still retains the confidence of the German government. 
Even from Berlin Board of Trade circles there arose 
a cry for reform of this inconceivable blundering and 
misuse of publicity, and a demand for a government 
supervision of the Wolff Bureau. The Kleine Journal, 
which is in close relations with Berlin finance and is 
conducted by Dr. Leo Leipziger, stated in its issue 
of February 5th, 1900: 

"The conspiracy instigated against the Wolff Telegraph 
Bureau, which was settled last Saturday, has uncovered a 
mass of evidence of wrongdoing which it is absolutely neces- 
sary to correct or stop. A witness on the stand described a 
condition of affairs, and in the clearest manner, too, that 
arouses the gravest doubts. A prominent banker in this city, 
owner of a part of the stock of the company under investiga- 
tion, and chairman of its board of directors, as admitted by 
Dr. Mantler himself, has taken cognisance of despatches 
before they were given to the public. It is obvious that in 
tlic future such things should be made impossible. Once and 
for all, Wolff's Bureau should be removed from the control 
or influence of private personages. It is necessary in this 
case because we are dealing with an official institution to 
which are confided for publication and dissemination com- 
munications of the highest authorities, state and official, and 
all of the greatest importance. It is imperative that these 
communications, before official publication, should be treated 
as state secrets, so to speak. This is the method employed 
in Austria, and no complaints of this kind have ever been 
made of the Vienna Correspondence Bureau, simply because 
the Austrian Telegraphic Bureau is a state institution. It 
is high time that we also started a government supervision 
of this kind, the necessity for such a step being amply shown 
by the evidence in the case at hand. The State Telegraphic 
Office would perhaps fall under the control of the State Sec- 
retary of the Imperial Post Office, and it is highly probable 
that under the management of Herr von Podbielski the new 
organisation would be put in the best possible shape for 
efficient work. Then we would have state officials as func- 
tionaries in the Bureau, and with that guarantee that all 
irregularities and preferences of any sort w^ould be excluded 
from the list of possibilities. 

"This, we think, would be the best means of quieting the 
unrest and removing the fears which this suit has caused. 



112 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

"Are men to be found in the German Reichstag who have 
the courage to discuss the crookednesses exposed in the Wolff 
Telegraphic Bureau and to recommend that the state assume 
control of the whole Bureau? 

"Equally corrupt and unreliable as Renter and Wolff is 
the great American press bureau, the Associated Press. It 
commenced its activities about the time of the American 
civil war, when a number of American publishers banded 
themselves together and organised a mutual telegraphic serv- 
ice by which they not only got more rapid news but a de- 
creased cost for the information. The business of the Asso- 
ciated Press since then has grown from year to year, but it 
is only since the Spanish-American war that the company 
has been known to the general European public. With the 
entrance of the United States into the field of active world 
politics the interest of the American reader was aroused in 
foreign matters, and the Associated Press was forced to 
consider it. Formerly, Mr. Walter Neef represented the 
company alone in London, subletting office or desk room in 
the Reuter offices. Now there are representatives — perma- 
nent ones, too — in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and St. Petersburg. 
The company is combined in the most intimate manner pos- 
sible with Reuter and Wolff, and together the three form a 
triple alliance whose business is politics, whose politics is 
business, and whose conscienceless, ruthless directors shrink 
from nothing to obtain their ends." * 

What the independent American press thinks of the 
Associated Press is clearly shown in the following 
article published by the New York American, which, 
by the way, is given to calling a spade a spade : 

"In the last few years it appears as if the management 
of the Associated Press had fallen into the hands of men 

* This is a characteristic continental view of the Associated 
Press, which is known to the American public as a news 
gathering and distributing corporation composed of repre- 
sentatives of all the leading newspapers in the Republic. 
Its business is to furnish reliable, impartial, and non-partisan 
news to its subscribers. Its directorate includes publishers 
of every shade of political, social, and religious belief. In 
what follows Herr Witte has accepted as gospel the bitter 
philippics of rival press bureaus which have been fighting the 
Associated Press for a generation. — S. T. 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 113 

who utilise it for purposes for which it was never intended. 
It has grown into a political machine, and, worse than that, 
a political machine for the suppression of truth and the 
spreading of false news. The newspapers who are members 
of the Associated Press and pay their dues to the association 
are entitled to demand that the business control be taken from 
this small coterie of men who are misusing the organisation 
and employing it as a means of wrongdoing. 

"For members residing at a distance it is very difficult to 
attend the general meetings, and the election of officials must, 
therefore, take place by proxies. Through this it has been, 
possible for a small inner ring for years to control the 
Associated Press and utilise the columns of the American 
press to further their own schemes, handle stock operations, 
and maintain their own friends in office. As members of the 
Associated Press, we are entitled to demand an honourable, 
true, and unpartisan reporting of events, and therefore pro- 
test, and shall continue to protest, at the falsification of the 
Associated Press until all source of complaint has been 
removed." 

Even more drastic than the New York American 
was the expression of the New York Sun, whose pub- 
lisher owns the Laffan Telegraph Bureau. 

"Cheats Press and Public." 
etc., etc. 

As on account of lack of space I cannot reproduce 
the article in full, I herewith give a few of the charac- 
teristic remarks it contains, stating on the side that 
the Associated Press has not felt called upon to insti- 
tute any libel proceedings. 

"It is particularly interesting just at present to call 
public attention to the gang of thieves, news perver- 
ters and ' swindlers who, operating under the awe- 
inspiring title of the Associated Press, have practi- 
cally grabbed the entire press of the country by the 
throat. The expressions, 'thieves,' 'news perverters,' 
'forgers,' are wittingly used by us. The thieves, news 
perverters and swindlers openly scoff at the courts of 



114 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

the country; declare themselves subject to no laws, in- 
dependent of any authority. During the peace con- 
gress in Paris, when the whole country was nervous 
and anxious about the outcome of the negotiations, 
the Associated Press published a lie, that the Spanish 
Commission had broken off the negotiations and re- 
tired. If this was the case, there could be only one 
result — the resumption of hostilities. This lie, like 
many others, was sent out by the Associated Press, 
north, south, east and west. It reached here late in 
the afternoon, just before closing time on the stock 
exchange and too late to publish an official denial. 
On the day of the last presidential election, when it 
had been definitely settled that the friends of sound 
money and prosperity had obtained control of Con- 
gress and would continue the present policies of the 
administration, the Associated Press sent out the lie 
that the Bryan supporters had won. This was as 
dirty a lie as any the Associated Press ever manufac- 
tured. The Associated Press sent the lie to its clients 
and the whole country was perturbed and disquieted. 
The price of various stocks dropped from one to three 
points, but not all of them, so on the next day the 
lie was repeated. It was pardonable on the first day, 
but was a crime on the second. Some more stocks 
fell. It was impossible to maintain the lie more than 
two days, but had the Siin not published the truth it 
would have been possible for certain stock manipula- 
tors to amass an enormous fortune. ..." 

These are only a few examples out of many cases. 
Consider the possibilities. In the hands of conscience- 
less men every newspaper in the land can be used as a 
tool by these rascals and any one ruined by a single ^. 
word. The quotations on the stock market can be | 
raised or lowered as most expedient and the peace of 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 115 

the nation endangered, as has occurred more than 
once. The extent of this power is almost inconceivable 
and to it the free press surrenders its tools — the 
swindled and deceived ''free press." * 

If the power of the Associated Press is almost in- 
conceivable, how much greater, how much more over- 
whelming must be the power of the three telegraphic 
agencies, Renter, Wolff and the Associated Press com- 
bined; combined and united, as I have shown, in the 
most narrow and indissoluble bonds. 

The Associated Press has not always been as 
friendly to Germany as it now appears to be. At 
the time I entered the service of the German Embassy, 
on the contrary, it was distinctly antagonistic and on 
more than one important occasion declined point-blank 
to publish the communi(|ues sent by the German Am- 
bassador. I remember one case where Herr von Biilow 
cabled the Ambassador about an article that had ap- 
peared in the Washington Post and requested to have 
it denied in the said paper and also through the Asso- 
ciated Press. The representative of the latter in Wash- 
ington, General Boynton, replied to me in a short, 
almost rude, manner that he could not accept the de- 
nial, and I was much pleased when after much beg- 
ging I induced the night editor of the Post to accept 
and publish it in the columns of his paper. Herr von 
Holleben was much relieved when he was able to tele- 

* Herr Witte then proceeds to couple the Associated Press 
with the Reuter and Wolff Bureaus. But his views and 
comments are distorted because he has accepted his facts 
from hostile newspapers which have been denied membership 
in this great news-gathering and distributing agency. Our 
author fails to recognise the co-operative nature of the serv- 
ices performed by the Associated Press for newspapers of 
every shade of politics and principles in the United States. — 
S. T. 



ii6 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

graph Berlin that the orders of his superior had been 
obeyed. The incident had an amusing sequel, for the 
next morning neither the Ambassador, his secretaries 
nor his attaches could find that denial in the Post. 
Immediately a messenger was despatched to my resi- 
dence and I was cited to appear before his excellency, 
who, with wrinkled brow, was still hunting for the 
Billow denial. 

"See here," he said, "I have telegraphed Berlin that 
the denial has appeared in this rag, and now although 
I have hunted for over an hour I cannot find it. What 
am I to think of this, and of you?" And he gruffly 
pushed the paper over to me. 

Not without some secret merriment, I placed a finger 
on a line in the most inconspicuous part of the journal, 
where the malicious editor had purposely stuck the 
notice, at a place where no one would possibly look 
for a communication from the German Embassy. 

"Here is the denial," said I. 

The Ambassador stared at me in an amazed manner, 
wiped his eyeglasses, stuck them on his nose, assured 
himself of the truth of my statement, and then said: 

"I wish the devil would fly away with these Ameri- 
can editors!" 

Particular annoyance was caused at this period by 
the Berlin cables of the Associated Press, whose rep- 
resentative there was Herr Wolf von Schierbrand * 

In May of the same year the publishers of the most 
important German newspapers in the United States 
got together in Chicago to protest against the Germano- 

* An agent of the Associated Press in Berlin at outs with 
the authorities would be of no possible value as a news gath- 
erer. He must be persona grata, or make way for an agent 
who is. It is a journalistic law. I knew Wolff von Schier- 
brand, and the story of his sticking to his view of his duty 
"fits him like a glove." — S. T. 



FOUNDATION OF THE REUTER BUREAU 117 

phobia of the Associated Press. Forty-six newspapers 
were represented and the conference ended with the 
formation of a union of German-American publishers 
to protect their mutual interests. 

How the Associated Press executed a change of 
front and from an enemy became a friend of German 
policy, how Herr von Schierbrand in Berlin was or- 
dered to leave the country to make room for a corre- 
spondent whose reports would not wound the feel- 
ings of the Wilhelmstrasse, I propose to recite in the 
next chapter. I will now describe my experiences after 
my separation from the German Embassy. 



CHAPTER XIV 

TPIE BIGGEST BRUTE A WHITE CROW 

Return to Vienna. — The "biggest German brute in America" 
visits me on the steamer. — "Nothing less than the Order 
of the Black Eagle goes with him." — I meet the American 
Ambassador in Vienna, and Herr von Schierbrand, Dr. 
Hammann, privy legation councillor, and Dr. Heinrich Man- 
tier in Berlin. — My appointment as representative of the 
Associated Press is prevented by Renter. — A letter of rec- 
ommendation from A. von Mumm. — My reception at the 
hands of Prince Eulenberg. — Attacks of the Austrian Pan- 
Germans cause vexation in Berlin. — "Wolff machinations." 
— A remark by Dr. Franz Schneider about officious jour- 
nalism. — Interchange of letters with Herr von Holleben. — 
Across the ocean again ! — The German consul general as 
mediator. — I send an explanation to Berlin. 

I SAILED with my family in the middle of February, 
1900, from Baltimore, on the North German Lloyd 
steamer Dresden for Bremen. The evening before 
my departure I had a visit from my good, dear old 
friend Edward Leygh, then editor-in-chief of the 
Dentschen Korrespondenten, who brought to me 
aboard the ship the latest number, just published, of the 
Chicago Freie Presse, in which was a leading article 
entitled, 'The Deeds of Messrs. Holleben and Biinz," 
in which the long list of the sins of these two diplo- 
mats was summed up. I read the article, shrugged 
my shoulders, and handed it back with the words that 
I could tell quite different tales of these gentlemen, 
if I wished. Then I took from my breast pocket the 
letter of introduction to Prince Eulenburg, showed it 

118 



T IE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 119 

to Mr. Leygh, and at the same time told him of Herr 
von Sternburg's warning. I shall never forget the 
storm which now broke from the mouth of my visi- 
tor. Edward Leygh was a good honest fellow, known 
all over the United States as the "biggest German 
brute" in the country, and proud of the title. 'Tf 
you wish, Brother Witte, I'll let loose at those two 

and I guarantee that in four weeks they will no 

longer be in America." 

Frightened, I took him by the hand. "You must not 
do that, Brother Leygh," I implored him, "because I 
should be held responsible for it, and the results would 
be frightful for me, as I know my good friends well." 

I walked a long time with him, up and down, before 
I got his promise to do nothing against the two Ger- 
man diplomats. I may here remark that when Llerr 
von Eisendecker was an envoy to Washington and got 
into difficulties with the administration, Edward Leygh 
rendered the German government such a service that 
later an order was conferred on him. "I will accept 
no order lower than the Order of the Black Eagle," 
was the answer of the staunch republican, and the af- 
fair of the decoration was disposed of, at least so far 
as Edward Leygh was concerned. 

"The most uncouth German in the United States," 
a man of gold with the heart of a child, died in the 
year 1901. His death was a great loss for all of 
Germany in America, as well as for the German-Amer- 
ican press, in which such an independent, honest, cul- 
tivated man, always true to his convictions, was like 
a white crow. 

On my arrival in Vienna I visited my old friend, 
Charles B. Herdliska, at the American embassy, who 
greeted me with real pleasure. He presented me to 
the new envoy, Addison C. Harris from Indianapolis, 



120 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

with the remark that at the time of the outbreak of 
the Spanish-American war I was the only friend of 
the United States in all of Austria and Germany. Mr. 
Harris then shook my hand, offered me a cigarette, 
and told me that the Associated Press had asked him, 
through their Berlin representative, Herr Wolf von 
Schierbrand, to recommend for their post in Vienna 
an able, energetic journalist. 'T believe you are our 
man," he remarked, "and I will gladly give you a letter 
of introduction to Herr von Schierbrand, whom you 
had better see yourself in Berlin, and conclude the 
affair." 

I took the very warmly expressed letter to Berlin, 
where I sought Herr von Schierbrand in his home in 
Lessing Street. It was an interesting and instructive 
visit, to which I look back with pleasure to-day. Herr 
von Schierbrand chatted about his experiences in Ber- 
lin and I of mine in Washington, and he found me so 
well informed as to the most intimate, secret occur- 
rences of German-American politics that he expressed 
his astonishment, as he, of course, had no idea of my 
former position with the German Embassy. 

'There is no doubt but that you are the right man 
for Berlin, but unfortunately the decision for the nam- 
ing of our Vienna correspondent does not rest with 
me, but with Mr. Walter Neef, our London represen- 
tative, and I will send the Ambassador's letter to him, 
at the same time as a hearty recommendation from 
myself. You will receive the news in Vienna in the 
shortest possible time." 

After finishing the business part of my visit, we had 
an exchange of thoughts and opinions. "You can have 
no idea of the difficulty of my position," he told me, 
"at the time of the outbreak of the Spanish-American 
war. The attitude of the German press is too well 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 121 

known to you for it to be necessary for me to instruct 
you as to that. I only did my duty as reporter for the 
Associated Press in telegraphing the unfriendly news- 
paper articles to America, from whence came an 
equally unfriendly echo from their newspapers. The 
Foreign Office here became alarmed and tried to cause 
me to change front. I was first appealed to by the fact 
of my being a German. 'As a German nobleman and 
former officer, you could not possibly lend a hand on 
purpose to make difficulties for our policy! Is it 
necessary to inform the United States how we, gov- 
ernment, press and people, think about the war? 
Would it not be better for you to spare your com- 
pany the great despatch costs and simply pass over 
in silence the press opinions?' 

'To such arguments I replied that I should neglect 
my duty to the United States if I were to colour, dis- 
guise or mutilate my reports, and that under no cir- 
cumstances could I deviate from my course. As I 
was not amenable to pleasant methods, they sought to 
force me by threats and intimidation. 'We will have 
you sent out of the country as a troublesome foreigner, 
if you continue to rouse in America, by your reports, 
a sentiment against Germany,' and, in fact, I have to 
thank Andrew D. White, the American Ambassador, 
that I have not been dismissed long ago." 

But in the following years Herr von Schierbrand 
was removed from Berlin, as I will here relate. He 
was accused of having written in the New York Even- 
ing Post an insulting article about the Kaiser, in con- 
sequence of which it would be impossible to further 
offer him the hospitality of Prussia. In vain Herr 
von Schierbrand denied that he had written the ar- 
ticle ; his fate was sealed, and he was obliged to leave 
the scene of his long; activities. The leaders of the 



122 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Associated Press had come to the conclusion that it 
was more advantageous for the service of the company 
for them to keep on good terms with "Wilhehnstrasse," 
and Herr von Schierbrand fell, an offering to the 
newly awakened friendship of the American despatch 
bureau for the German Empire. 

From a high official of the Associated Press, Colonel 
Diehl, whose sympathies were with von Schierbrand, 
I learned later that he entertained the same opinion 
as myself as to the reasons for the dismissal of von 
Schierbrand. To the general director of the com- 
pany, Melville E. Stone, it must be ungrudgingly con- 
ceded that henceforward he honestly took great pains 
to serve the Berlin Foreign Office and government. 

At the end of my conversation with Herr von Schier- 
brand, which lasted till the small hours of the morning, 
I told him that it was my intention to ask for an inter- 
view at the Foreign Office, and also at Wolff's office, 
and to inquire of the latter how it was that they had 
appropriated my plan of a ''German-American Cor- 
respondence." 

"You have courage," was Herr von Schierbrand's 
significant reply. 

The next day I carried out my intention, called at 
the Foreign Office, and sent my card to Dr. Ham- 
mann. My reception was hurried and the remarks of 
the privy legation consul went no further than the 
biblical "Yes, yes," and "No, no." In order to feel 
my way, I remarked that Herr von Holleben had had 
the kindness to give me a letter of introduction to 
Prince Philip Eulenburg in Vienna. "I shall be pleased 
to know that he has been of use to you," was his 
laconic remark. 

I now saw that Baron von Sternburg was right in 
his warning. The poison began at once to work. 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 123 

After a few moments I took my leave of the privy 
legation consul, who, it was plain to see, no longer 
cared to remember the time when he was a poorly 
paid editor of the anti-Semitic Tagesnachtrichtcn, and 
risked myself in the lion's den. I found everything as 
I had left it. The fat porter was there, who nodded 
pleasantly to the passers in and out. There were the 
Wolff's messenger boys, who carry the printed des- 
patches to the papers, and, yes, there was my dear 
old friend, Director F. Banse, who in former years 
always paid me the Renter gold. A fine, honest man, 
who had nothing to do with the crooked ways of the 
company and faithfully fulfilled his duty, which lay 
in carrying on the administrative part of the busi- 
ness. He knew me at once though we had not seen 
each other for years, and gave me his hand, though 
visibly embarrassed. 

'Tn what can I serve you, Herr Witte?" 

'T should like to ask you one question, and ask 
you for a frank answer. Director. How is it that 
Wolff's Bureau publishes the 'German-American cor- 
respondence,' the plan for which I formulated and 
gave up my position in Vienna to go to America to 
carry out?" 

The director avoided my eyes and rubbed his hands- 
in embarrassment. 

"Yes, we knew that you went with your family to 
America, to publish there a correspondence for the 
German papers, and we know further that you were 
attached to the German Embassy in Washington ; also 
that you are no longer with the Embassy and that you 
have returned from Washington to Vienna. Herr von 
Holleben — but no, it will be better for you to speak 
to Dr. Mantler, whom I will call at once." 

After a few moments, during which time there was 



124 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

rather a heated conversation in the adjoining room, 
the all-powerful director general of Wolff's Bureau 
appeared in person and stood directly in front of me, 
staring at me angrily. 

"You, you demand to know how it comes that we 
publish your German-American correspondence? We 
are in no way answerable to you for our actions, and — 
and — we will soon get rid of you!" 

I made a deep and ironical bow. "Au revoir, Mon- 
sieur le docteur Mantler," I replied, *'nous nous re- 
verrons." 

Once more Herr von Sternburg's warning occurred 
to me. I compared the reception I had had at the 
Foreign Office and at Wolff's, went over in my mind 
what I had heard, and drew a curious conclusion. 

After returning to Vienna I next awaited the result 
of the letter written by Herr von Schierbrand. On 
March 14th I received a note from a colleague in 
which he congratulated me on my appointment as 
Vienna editor of the Associated Press and advised 
me strongly as regarded my demands, not to fall 
into the old German fault of being too modest. ''Don't 
be a cheap man," were his last words. 

Several weeks passed without my receiving from 
London the credentials of my position. Then I re- 
ceived a second letter from Herr von Schierbrand, in 
which he regretted to have to tell me that my already 
confirmed appointment had been withdrawn at Ren- 
ter's request. ''Renter would consider it an unfriendly 
action on our part if we were to name you for the 
Vienna post, and the union between the Associated 
Press and Renter s is so close that we are not able to 
disregard it." 

So Wolff, Renter and the Associated Press were 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 125 

against me and again Herr von Sternburg's warning 
occurred to me. 

I had not yet made use of Herr von HolleT^en's 
letter of introduction to Prince Eulenburg. I had be- 
come very sceptical of there being any use in doing 
so, but I had decided, if it became necessary, to drink 
the bitter cup to the dregs. I therefore wrote Herr 
von Mumm, who at that time was German Ambas- 
sador to Luxemburg, and who before his departure 
from Washington had especially told me if I ever 
were in need of help to ask it of him frankly. I told 
him in my letter of my last experiences in the Ameri- 
can capital, and explained the difficult position in 
which I found myself, asking him for advice. He 
immediately sent me a letter of introduction to Prince 
Eulenburg, which I give below as an example of the 
style of modern German diplomacy. 

"Luxemburg, March 11, 1900. 
"Most Serene Prince : 

"Herr Emil Witte, once a resident journalist in Vienna, 
and who until lately has been corresponding in Washington 
for German and Austrian papers, has begged me for an 
introduction to your highness. I give it to him with pleasure, 
as during his stay in Washington he put himself at the dispo- 
sition of the Embassy there, and by making inquiries, etc., 
was of much use. Whether and what special qualifications 
Mr. Witte may have, I do not know, but I beg your excellency 
to receive him graciously should he present himself. Thank- 
ing you in advance, I have the honour to be 

"Your highness' most obedient 

"A. voN Mumm." 

A remarkable circumvention of the facts well 
known to Herr von Mumm, and more remarkable the 
mode of expression of the letter! I can vouch for 
the truth in saying that I never ''made inquiries" 
for Herr von Mumm, and what he meant by "etc." 
is a riddle to me; he may perhaps have meant all 



126 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

the articles I was asked to write about him and tlie 
chancellor. It would almost seem as if Herr von 
Mumm had to thank his talent for writing unintel- 
ligible and profound diplomatic notes for his sudden 
career. Armed with the two letters from Herr von 
Holleben and Herr von Mumm, I now had an inter- 
view at the German Embassy. A servant in the green 
livery of the prince took me at once to the friend of 
the Emperor and author of "Sanges an Aegir." The 
great man received me graciously. After reading the 
two letters, he turned to me with the words : "You are 
so warmly recommended by my two colleagues that 
I am truly pleased to make your acquaintance, and 
shall be only too glad to do anything for you within 
my power. In what can I be of use to you?" 

"My wishes are most modest, your highness. I was 
permitted in Washington to use my pen for the service 
of the Empire, and I should esteem it a favour to be 
allowed to work for the German cause also here in 
Vienna. Before the Spanish-American war I belonged 
to the editorial staff of the Deutschen Zeitung and 
think I could enter there again, and would like now 
to beg of your highness to help me by your influence 
to get the correspondence for several German king- 
doms and also to allow me to get news direct at the 
Embassy itself." 

"Your request is not indiscreet," said the Ambas- 
sador, "and I will see what I can do. You have been 
so urgently recommended by my colleagues that I 
should not hesitate to receive you at the Embassy and 
to do as our other good friends wish in imparting to 
you our information. Further, I am going shortly to 
Berlin, and I will there talk to Count von Biilow about 
you." 

I thanked his highness deeply for his kindness. 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 127 

"Stop," the prince interrupted me by saying, ''some- 
thing has just occurred to me. Count von Biilow is 
just at this time being sharply attacked by the radical- 
national press in Austria, and in Berlin one is very 
sensitive to unfriendly criticism. Try to hush all 
German attacks against the chancellor, and in Berlin 
it shall be known where the praise is due." 

I allowed myself to call his highness' attention to 
the fact that in all German circles of Austria his atti- 
tude against the struggle of the Germans for the pres- 
ervation of their nationality was deeply complained of. 

"It is forbidden to me, as you know," said he, "to 
mix in the inner affairs of the monarchy, but never- 
theless you may tell your friends from me that I am 
a German and that no German heart ought to beat 
in my breast if I do not take the deepest interest in 
the struggles of the Germans in Austria, and from 
my heart I wish them the fullest success." 

"That was spoken like a German man, your high- 
ness," I replied, "and in the name of my German 
friends I thank you for this explanation." 

His highness gave me his hand at parting. I was 
about to leave when the prince detained me. "Try 
to explain and vindicate through the radical German 
press here the position of the German Empire during 
the Boer war. That would be greatly to your credit 
in Berlin. And you will at any time be welcome at 
the Embassy." 

What the Ambassador asked of me was no small 
task. It was stated quite openly in all the German 
i papers in Vienna that the two small Boer republics had 
only gone to war with their powerful neighbour in con- 
fidence of the support of the German Emperor, whose 
celebrated telegram to President Kruger after the 
Jameson raid was not yet forgotten. The policy of 



128 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

the chancellor could not and would not be under- 
stood which left their hard-pushed kin ( stammbenos- 
sen) to their fate, without ever batting an eyelash. 
And I was to whitewash this policy for the benefit 
of the Pan-Germans! I frankly admit that I under- 
took this task without any particular enthusiasm. I 
appeared to myself to be a criminal lawyer who has 
to defend a bad case before the judge and whose duty 
it is to accept the commission even if it is not accord- 
ing to his taste. I wrote an article in which I tried 
to excuse the German government on account of state 
reasons. I proceeded in somewhat this fashion : 

The German Empire, as an African colonial power 
with far-reaching and weighty interests there, has, 
unknown to the great majority, plans to strengthen 
its own position in the Dark Continent. A mighty 
Boer republic, with an army of a hundred thousand 
sharp-shooters in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
German colonies, and spreading itself over South 
Africa, is not in accord with the German-African 
policy, which should give further consideration to the 
feasible idea of weakening her two principal opponents 
in Africa in the fight for the conquest of the Dark 
Continent. An unhappy outcome in this war for the 
Boers would lead them to seek a closer bond with the 
German colonies, as well as with the German Empire, 
which would then make them the most useful friends 
and allies in the accomplishment of its colonial plans 
in Africa. The views which I set forth in this article 
expressed, as I knew, the rule of conduct of the re- 
sponsible statesmen in Berlin. 

I sent the manuscript to the publishing house of 
Karl Herman Wolf's Ostdeutschen Rundschau, whose 
good opinion Prince Eulenburg and Count Biilow 
valued so much. In a short time I received the article 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 129 

back with a polite note wherein it was plainly ex- 
pressed that the sympathies of the Ostdcutschcn Rund- 
schau were wholly and entirely on the people fight- 
ing for their national existence, and that no state rea- 
sons would be able to change their opinion of the atti- 
tude of Count Billow, or alter it. Even though my 
article was returned, I was pleased with the answer, 
and did not hesitate to bring it to the knowledge of 
Prince Eulenburg who shortly afterwards went to 
Berlin. 

In the meantime my former position on the Deut- 

schen Zeitung had been offered to me. There had been 

a heated discussion between Dr. Wahner and myself, 

who had never cjuite forgiven me for having given 

{ up my position after the Spanish- American war in 

^ order, as he said, to chase a phantom, and such proved 

to be my self-imposed mission for the furtherance of 

ja better understanding between the German Empire 

and America. At the end of the discussion, we shook 

hands and I left Dr. Wahner with the promise of be- 

int;- in my place at 10 o'clock the next morning. 

Next morning I was about to leave my dwelling 
when some one knocked and the business manager of 
the Deutschcn Zeitung, Mr. Karl Bolleder, appeared. 
He was a good friend of mine and had taken great 
pains to bring about an understanding between Dr. 
Wahner and myself. To my surprise he told me that 
the publisher of the Dcutschen Zeitung had, during 
the night, decided definitely not to give me the posi- 
tion and would not be able to keep his word of the 
evening before. On my request for an explanation, 
Herr Bolleder replied that he was not able to give any 
definite reason, but he believed that during the night 
some unfriendly influence had been used. Only a few 
moments later a carriage stopped at the door and an 



130 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

official from the German Embassy, who explained to 
me that his highness, Prince Eulenburg, had spoken 
about me with the chancellor while in Berlin, but was 
very sorry to have to inform me that he was not in 
a position to in any way do anything for me, or to help 
me as he had promised to do. 

Herr von Sternburg's warning again occurred to 
me. As much and as long as I had tried not to believe 
there was anything wrong, I was forced to the opinion, 
in the face of so many proofs, that I was the victim of 
a malevolent intrigue. Once arrived at this conclu- 
sion, I decided to act. 

On May 22d I sent a registered letter to the chan- 
cellor, in which I made known to him my curious ex- 
periences in Vienna, and at the same time told him that 
Herr von Sternburg had warned me against the letter 
of introduction of the German Ambassador in Wash- 
ington to Prince Eulenburg. My letter ended with a 
request for an inquiry into the affair. 

No answer! 

Next month T learned that unfriendly influences 
were at work against me, trying to stamp me as a 
political secret agent of the German government.* 

In July I went to visit the exposition in Paris. I 
there wrote, at the request of Dr. Franz Schneider, 
my experiences in the Embassy in Washington, and 

* Certain Vienna sheets;, with wbnm I hope to become better 
acquainted in court, published, after the incident of March 
T2, T902. the inspired Hbol that I once was driven out of 
Vienna at the instance of Count Goluchowskv, and that I had 
been in prison in New York. I hereby offer a reward of 
TO. 000 marks for the production of proof that I was ban- 
ished from Austria or that I was ever in prison in New York. 
Any one who can brin^ the proof can claim this sum, even 
the tipricrht Viennese Schmock, who, in the interest of the 
Berlin Wolff's den and her dark underlings, lent himself to 
this journalistic hangman's job. 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 131 

gave it to him to look over. When he had read it, 
he shook his head sympathetically and said: 

'*Yes, that is our record. There is no worse call- 
ing than that of a political journalist. I, who have 
been a correspondent in six different principal capi- 
tals for the Cologne Zeitung, have experienced it my- 
self." * 

Dr. Schneider was so excited while reading my 
manuscript that he offered to go at once to the Embassy 
and lay it before Prince Miinster, that an investigation 
should at once be made of my situation in the interest 
of the Empire. 

Later we met in a cafe. 

"There is nothing to be done with that dull per- 
son," he confided to me. "The old man has no interest 
in anything and only wants to be let alone in peace. 
I advise you to go yourself to the Embassy." 

I followed his advice and went the next day to the 
Embassy, where I was received by the Second Secre- 
tary, Count Goben. I told him that in the interest 
of the German Empire and the good standing of Ger- 
man diplomacy, I asked the help of the Embassy to 
bring about an investigation of my case. Count Goben 
listened to my recitation with attention. "Simply 
unbelievable — unheard of — scandalous," he exclaimed 
involuntarily, and he volunteered to telephone to Lux- 
emburg to Herr von Mumm and ask his intervention 
to bring about an investigation. 

He returned, shrugging his shoulders. 

"I cannot understand it," he began. "Herr von 

Mumm wishes you well, as you told me, he knows you, 

* Exactly the same opinion was expressed by Herr Rudolph 
Cronan, who, at the beginning of the war between Spain and 
America, was discharged from the position of Washington 
correspondent of the Cologne Zeitung because he refused to 
hate the United States on order. 



132 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

has asked favours of your pen, and yet refuses to mix 
in the affair. Can you explain his attitude?" 

"Yes, I think I can. Herr von Mumm has re- 
peatedly said to me, that it is the height of his ambi- 
tion to be the successor of Herr von Holleben in 
Washington, and he is acting quite correctly in refus- 
ing to intervene in my affairs .... He calculates 
that to bring my case into the open would have un- 
pleasant consequences for Herr von Holleben." 

I have not heard of nor seen Count Goben since our 
interview. It seemed to me that he was not a diplomat 
of that stamp who had the gift of hiding his thoughts. 
No wonder that he does not make a career as fast as 
Herr von Mumm or Baron Sternburg! 

Returned to Vienna, I took my next step. I de- 
manded of Herr von Holleben, who was in Europe on 
leave, if he were ready for an examination of the 
difficulties between us by a court of honour and as 
ready to take the oath as I was. There resulted a 
long correspondence, from which I give the following 
letters from his excellency : 

"Paris, October i8, 1900. 
"Dear Sir: 

"In answer to your letter of the I2tb, which I received 
to-day, I will say that I am not able, without the authority 
of the ForeijT^n Office, to take the steps indicated by you, and 
I must beg you to address yourself there. 

"On November ist, not before, I expect to be in Berlin. 
As I am leaving Paris to-day, I must he^ you, in case yoi^ 
have anything to say to me before the ist, to send it to the 
address of the Imperial Prussian envoy in Karlsruhe. 

"Yours truly, 

"Holleben." 

"Karlsruhe, Oct. 27, 1900. 
"Dear Sir: 

"In answer to your letter sent to me care of the Imperial 
envoy here, I would say: 

"According to my best convictions, I have no reason to 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 133 

fear the judgment of a third party as regards my manner 
of conduct towards you. I therefore personally have not 
the slightest desire to avoid such a course. I am, however, 
not able, as I wrote you before, to act without the consent 
of the Foreign Office. If, as it now seems, you are contem- 
plating making a report, I am not afraid, on my side, to 
speak; but I should, however, like to know, first, what you 
accuse me of; second, whom you would propose to conduct an 
inquiry. 

"From your letters I cannot tell in what manner I have 
injured you by supporting your enemies. I can at least not 
be made responsible for Wolff's machinations in Vienna. 

"From the above you will see that a so-called statement 
seems to me without object. On the other hand, I will gladly 
help you, if I can, with advice and deed. 

"An immediate answer will reach me in Berlin, W., Hotel 
Bristol, Unter den Linden. 

"Yours truly, 

"HOLLEBEN." 



"Hotel Bristol, Unter den Linden, 

"Berlin, Nov. 3, 1900. 
"Dear Sir: 

"I have no hesitation in recommending you to Herr von 
Siemens, yet I should like at once a complete report of your 
earlier activities, as well as a statement of your wishes re- 
specting Constantinople. On this condition alone would a 
recommendation be practicable. 

"Yours truly, 

"HOLLEBEN." 

"Hotel Bristol, Unter den Linden, 

"Berlin, Nov. 7, 1900. 
"Dear Sir: 

"I beg you to hasten the material relative to your introduc- 
tion, as I shall not remain long in Berlin. I would also 
remark, as before, that I have no fear of laying the whole 
matter before a third person. As such I would suggest the 
entirely impartial Legation Consul Flermann ; also Baron 
Sternburg, who is in Germany, might be induced to negotiate. 

"YoLirs truly, 

"HOLLEBEN." 

As I did not think best to accept as umpire the men 
proposed by his excellency, knowing their personel 



134 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

honour and the dependence of their position, I pro- 
posed Prince Herbert Bismarck. His excellency was 
so indignant at this that he sent me the following note, 
and sailed for New York without keeping the prom- 
ises made in his former letters : 

''Berlin, Nov. 12, 1900. 
"Dear Sir: 

"After consultation with important personages, I find my- 
self no longer in a position to continue the correspondence. 

"Yours truly, 

"HOLLEBEN." 

I thereupon replied once more to the Ambassador 
that I would accept Herr von Sternburg as arbitrator, 
and somewhat later I laid my complaint before the 
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Baron von Richthofen, 
to whom I sent my correspondence with the Ambassa- 
dor. To this again I received no answer. 

The circumstances forced me to a conclusion. 
Wolff's machinations in Vienna, as the Ambassador 
had remarked, had made my stay there unpleasant. 
It hardly seemed advisable for me to go to Berlin, 
and, rack my brain as I might, there seemed nothing 
left for me to do but return with my family to the 
United States. Consideration for my family obliged 
me to bring the affair to a close in one way or another. 

We arrived in New York about the 15th of Decem- 
ber, and I let the Ambassador know of my arrival. At 
the same time I requested him to let me know by Sun- 
day noon what his intentions were. Five minutes be- 
fore the time stated I received, by special delivery, 
the following letter from the Ambassador: 

"Washington, Dec. 22, 1900. 
"Dear Sir: 

"I have requested the Consul General, Dr. Biinz, to com- 
municate with you. Wliether it will be possible for him to 
see you on Sunday, I cannot say. 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 135 

"You will have received my letter of the 12th ultimo. 
Yours of the same date followed me here. I have answered 
it, but the contents of the reply now no longer apply. 

"Yours truly, 

"HOLLEBEN." 



Five minutes after receiving this letter, I had a tele- 
gram from the German Consul General, Dr. Karl 
Biinz, in which he invited me to visit him that after- 
noon at his residence facing Central Park. I went at 
the appointed time. 

*'This is a bad business between you and Herr von 
Holleben," he began, after receiving me, "and I should 
like you to kindly give me your side of the case. Hav- 
ing heard only the Ambassador's side, I am not able to 
form an opinion." 

I told my history, showed him how through the 
perfidy of Wolff's agent I had been forced out of 
my position in Washington, and that, besides this, 
my plan of a correspondence had been stolen, and I 
had returned to Vienna on the advice of the Ambassa- 
dor, and that Herr von Stemburg had warned me of 
the letter to Prince Eulenburg. That in Vienna a re- 
port had spread concerning me to the effect that I 
was a political secret agent of the German government, 
and that I was bound to have an explanation. 

The Consul General walked up and down the room 
a few times. 

'Tt is a very bad affair," he repeated, "and you 
have made it worse by making a complaint to Herr 
von Richthofen. The more I think about the affair 
the less I can blame you, if you have become suspi- 
cious. You have had a very disagreeable experience, 
and — Herr von Sternburg told me something of the 
matter when he was here and we laid our souls bare. 
You have certainly been mistreated and your life made 



136 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

very hard. It goes against human nature to accept 
such things in silence, even if one is a good Christian 
and believes in the adage that we must forgive our 
enemies. I — hm, have really not a bad opinion of 
you, and hm — believe that we will be able to reach 
an understanding. If only you had not sent that com- 
plaint to Herr von Richthofen! I have — hm — hm — 
hm — 3. communication to make from the Ambassador, 
that he is quite ready to make good whatever loss you 
have sustained, as you suppose, through him. But 
for certain reasons," — here again the Consul General 
was attacked by a cough — "he must request that to- 
day you send a communication to the Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs in Berlin, and explain to him that your 
difficulties with the Ambassador have been straight- 
ened out. You look astonished " 

"If it were only true," I replied. 

"Yes, I can well understand that you are incredu- 
lous, and — I will confess that suspicions are not with- 
out ground. But — " The Consul General here placed 
himself before me, laid his hand on his heart: "If I 
give you my word of honour that you will not regret 
it if you send this explanation to Herr von Richthofen, 
if I give you my word of honour that you will have 
no further cause to complain of Herr von Holleben, 
and that this time he will keep his word, then would 
you be able to send the explanation to Berlin?" 

At first I did not reply. I thought, without being 
able to make up my mind. At last I replied, in a voice 
that showed my inner excitement, "I will believe you, 
Mr. General Consul, and trust myself to your word of 
honour that these disgraceful machinations shall cease 
and I and my family be no longer deprived of a means 
of livelihood." 

The Consul General took both my hands. ''You 



THE BIGGEST BRUTE— A WHITE CROW 137 

have my word of honour,'' he said in raised tones. 
He then went to his desk and took out a piece of paper 
on which was the f oUowing in his handwriting : 

"Your Excellency: 

"In reference to my communication to your excellency of 
the 22d of November of this year, concerning the differences 
between his excellency von Holleben and myself, I must not 
delay to make known to your excellency that on my return 
here a complete understanding has been reached between 
his excellency and myself, and therefore my charge may be 
dismissed. 

"Your excellency's obedient servant, 

"E. WiTTE." 

"If you will sit at my desk and copy this off and 
put it in an envelope addressed by you, I will see 
to it that it leaves to-day for its destination." 

I did as the Consul General directed me. I handed 
him the explanation, which without doubt is filed with 
my case to-day in the Wilhelmstrasse. There came 
about, through the intermediation of Herr Biinz, a 
reconciliation with the understanding that Herr von 
Holleben was to refund me my travelling expenses, 
as well as to assure me of a suitable position if on 
account of Wolff's indiscretion I was not able to find 
one. 

After the sending of the explanation to Berlin, the 
matter was dismissed by both of my worthy protec- 
tors ! 

In March I received, to my surprise, a letter dated 
from Calcutta, February 15th, in which Baron Spec 
von Sternburg declared himself ready to act as media- 
tor between Herr von Holleben and myself, at the re- 
quest of Herr von Holleben. "My dear Herr Witte," 
the letter began, and ended with the words, "You may 
feel assured that I shall do all in my power to bring 
about an understanding. Yours sincerely, Frh. Spec 



138 REVELATIONS OF A CxERMAN ATTACHE 

von Sternburg, Kaiserlich Deiitscher General Konsul." 
Soon after I took the liberty of reminding Herr von 
Holleben of his promise made to me through Dr. Biinz. 
He replied that he had asked the Consul General to 
communicate with me. On the 9th of March I re- 
ceived from the latter the following telegram : 

"New York, March 9th. 
"Have given up all business. Leaving to-day for four 
weeks in Florida. 

"BiJNZ." 

It is easy to see from this telegram that Dr. Biinz 
would have acceded to the wishes of Herr von Holle- 
ben, if he was not obliged to recuperate by a four- 
weeks' trip to Florida. The fact that Herr Biinz felt 
obliged to refer to this trip shows that he was aware 
of the disgraceful manner of his proceedings. Herr 
Biinz is therefore responsible for the consequences of 
his own stupidity. 



CHAPTER XV 

GERMAN AMERICA 

My Odyssey in Western America. — The most corrupt city in 
the world. — The Bismarck of St. Louis. — A German sheet 
that serves three masters. — On the blacklist. — Officials of 
the German Consulate in Chicago announce the fusion of 
two German papers to silence the attacks of the Chicago 
Freie Presse. — I address Superintendent Diehl of the As- 
sociated Press. — My sojourn in Milwaukee. — "Germany is 
ready from the ground up." — What Emil von Schleimitz 
told me. — Earthquakes among German journalists in Amer- 
ica. — I prefer a new petition to Herr von Richthofen. 

When I think back on that sad period of my life, 
I appear to myself like the long-suffering Ulysses, 
who was obliged to pass through all kinds of adven- 
tures before he was able to return to his beloved home 
and wreak vengeance on the gay suitors to his wife. 

Having decided to break entirely with the past, at 
the beginning of May I went to St. Louis to seek a po- 
sition with the Exposition, which had just started with 
a regular American boom. I had procured an intro- 
duction from the worthy Martin Glynn in Albany, 
New York, one of the commissioners of the Expo- 
sition, and felt quite sure that at last I had found a 
field of usefulness for my many-sided experiences. 
Dr. Emil Praetorius, the worthy Nestor of the Ger- 
man-American press, was also of this opinion. 

*'It was an extremely good idea of yours to come 
here and offer your services to the leaders of the Ex- 
position, who need just such men as you. I will do 

139 



140 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

whatever I can for you. Please call at my office, where 
all further arrangements can be made. I think you 
will find a well-paid position with us for at least three 
years. The difficulties which you have had with the 
German government, and about which I am thor- 
oughly conversant, will make no difference to us." 

I gratefully shook the hand of the old forty-eighter. 
At last I had found a man who acted and spoke like 
a man! 

On the sixth day, when, by appointment, I entered 
the private room of Herr Dr. Praetorius, in the West- 
liche Post Building, he came toward me with em- 
barrassment : 

"You must have very powerful enemies who are 
working against you here. I have done my best for 
you, but could accomplish nothing. Go and see Herr 
Schroers." 

Herr John Schroers, to whom he sent me, was the 
business manager of the IVestliche Post and is 
pleased to be called the "Bismarck of St. Louis." Lie 
lays claim to this proud title principally for the rea- 
son that he assembled four newspapers under one man- 
agement. It is only possible in America, and there 
only possible in St. Louis, that the same newspaper 
should serve, in its different editions, as many different 
political masters. Strongly Republican in the morning 
edition, which appears as the IVestliche Post; half 
Democratic and half Socialistic in the Anzeiger, the 
evening edition; and neutral for all three parties in 
the Mississippi Blatter, the well-known fat Sunday edi- 
tion; this is the celebrated sheet in the town of the 
great German brewer, Adolphus Busch. 

As everything in America must be measured by a 
giant measuring stick, St. Louis lays claim to being 
the "Most corrupt city in the world"; and the court 



GERMAN AMERICA 141 

investigations of the corruption which smells to heaven 
in all the spheres of public life have shown that this 
title is well deserved. Unfortunately, it must be said 
that many Germans have played a sad role in the ex- 
posed cases. 

I followed the advice of Herr Praetorius and 
called on Herr Schroers in his office. He had hardly 
heard my name when he approached me with raised 
hands and declared with emphasis: 

*'l know what brings you to St. Louis, and I can 
tell you that your undertaking is all in vain. You will 
never find a position or occupation here, and the sooner 
you leave St. Louis the better it will be for you and 
your family." 

''How shall I understand your words?" I asked him. 
*'Herr Dr. Praetorius gave me his word that with my 
European knowledge and experience I would be very 
acceptable to the Exposition company and would be 
able to find a profitable position for at least three 
years." 

Herr Schroers raised his eyes and hands to heaven : 
"I can only repeat w^hat I have said to you; you will 
never find a position in St. Louis !" 

The words of Herr Schroers proved the sad truth. 
I set every wheel in motion, but found all doors closed. 
I questioned Richard Bartholdt as to the reason why 
my letter from Commissioner Martin Glynn had so 
little weight. He laughed ironically and said : "Glynn 
is the only Democrat on the commission, and his rec- 
ommendations, therefore, are not worth anything." 

From one who was in close connection with the 
German consulate, I learned that word had gone out 
to all the consulates in the country that nowhere was 
I to receive employment. I went to the consulate and 
demanded an interview with the consul. I was rudely 



142 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

told that I might not speak with him. I knew enough. 
I was not, therefore, much surprised when the owner 
of a St. Louis English weekly for which I regularly 
wrote articles declared that he would be obliged to 
look for some one else to write of German affairs, 
as he had been made to understand that he would lose 
the greater part of his subscribers if he continued to 
publish my articles. It was the same in St. Louis as 
in Vienna. 

Weary of the fruitless struggle, I decided to try my 
luck in the "Queen of the West," Chicago. I left my 
family in St. Louis and went alone to the city on Lake 
Michigan, where I called on Herr Richard Michaelis, 
publisher of the Freie Presse, in whose paper the ar- 
ticle had appeared on *'The Deeds of Messrs. Holleben 
and Biinz." Herr Michaelis, of whom it had been 
said that he was a Bismarckian reptile, had hardly 
heard my name when he invited me into his private 
office. 

"I have heard about you," he began, ''and I must 
confess that your case interests me for more reasons 
than one. Tell me what newspapers are paid by the 
Ambassador." 

I told him some of them, and finally remarked that 
I had been accused at the Embassy of having written 
the article which appeared in his paper, entitled, 'The 
Deeds of Messrs. Holleben and Biinz." I also men- 
tioned the fact that it had been the intention of Ed- 
ward Leygh, the publisher in chief of the Deutschcn 
Korrespondcntcn, as a result of this article, to start a 
press campaign against the Ambassador, von Holleben, 
and consul, Biinz, and that I had had difficulty in 
preventing him. 

Herr Michaelis smiled. "Of course, I knew that 
you were not the author of the 'Deeds of Messrs. Hoi- 



GERMAN AMERICA 143 

leben and Biinz.' That article brought me luck, as 
shortly after its appearance a German vice-consul came 
to see me and pledged me to cease my attacks on the 
two named officials. I would be rewarded and my 
paper would be helped wherever it appeared. As the 
Illinois Staats Zeitung was still my strongest competi- 
tor, there came about a transaction through the in- 
fluence of the consul by which I obtained control of 
the Staats Zeitung, so that there was no further trou- 
ble of competition. You are, as I perceive, in a diffi- 
cult position, but you do not need to give up. You 
have a good and strong case, and the truth must finally 
triumph." 

At this time occurred the dismissal of Herr von 
Schierbrand, correspondent of the Associated Press 
at Berlin. The memory of our meeting was still fresh 
in my mind, and I wanted if possible to render him a 
service. While speaking with Mr. Diehl of the Asso- 
ciated Press, I showed him that probably the For- 
eign Office would recall the dismissal if it were brought 
to their knowledge that a bad impression had been 
made in America by this action. **You have it in your 
power," I told him, ^'through the medium of Renter 
and Wolff, to spread the news through the entire Ger- 
man press that the dismissal of Herr von Schierbrand 
from Berlin meant to America the re-opening of an 
anti-American press campaign in Germany, and the 
danger was great that the American press, on its side, 
would answer with hounding the Germans. 

"That is the only way we can save Schierbrand," 
replied Mr. Diehl, "and I thank you in his as well as 
my name. I will at once make the trial." 

Whether Herr Diehl really ever took any steps to- 
ward saving Herr von Schierbrand is uncertain; in 
that case, they at least were without result. The dis- 



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GER^L\y: a:.izrica 145 

CouxTiXG \'ery K^\"ly 0:: rnz GEZiiA^rs i^r rnz 
Western States.'" 

Herr von Schleinitz and I 'cckel each other in the 
eyes. We K^vevvI 

A few days later I a^ain met the ei:tor-m-^±:ef of 
the Germanic:. He had received a letter :r:n the 
char^-e d'attairs c»f the Embassv. and read :: : :• 

me. ''With manv thanks*'' Tthis was abttit -i: _:- 
stance) ''for this assurance of vonr frienilj h::erest. 
I am sorry to have to tell you that ft will be imp*: i ^ 
for me to take any steps whatever in the a^air ; . _ 
mention. I leave it to your judgment whether :r ':t 
to apply to Berlin.*'* 

Herr von Schleinitz evidently knew more man he 
told me, but thought it best to withhold the rest of the 
letter from me. After a pause, he b-egan again: 
"The German journalists in A_nierica have often to 
bear a very heavy burden. Hardly any one of us is 
spared the hardest kind of struggle for existence. I 
myself worked as a day labourer in a faaory. as &d. 
also our colleague, George von Skah the editor-in- 
chief of the XtTdC Yorker Staats-Zeitii^nc. ]^Iany who 
are without a position wander the streets or take help 
from charitable societies. I realise that you are zight- 
ing a bard fi^t, and that you suEer so much the m:re 
as you have a big family to provide for. But hold 
your head high and do not be downcast by your ill 
luck- You have it in your power to make a grea: deal 
of mischief, but as a good German you ~:.ii r. :: ij 
that under any circumstances.** 

"^^'hat you have said to me I had already heard in 
several variations,** I replied. "My patriotism as a 
German is appealed to. but at the same time I am pre- 
vented on all sides from making a liv^ lfh ood. ^^lly 
am I not offered a position in - : ..r ':"r e ?:2':ll5hment?" 



146 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Herr von Schleinitz made no reply. I believe that 
he personally would gladly have given me a position, 
but he was powerless against the strong influences 
which were working against me. What he told me 
about the unfortunate experiences of German jour- 
nalists in America was not new to me. I had had 
many personal experiences and known of many sad 
cases. 

In those days my courage almost failed me. Life 
did not seem to me worth living, and I earnestly asked 
myself if it would not be better for me and my fam- 
ily to give up the struggle against the powers of dark- 
ness, which made our existence equal to the pains of 
hell, and take my own life. But always I refrained 
from doing so because of the thought that that was 
exactly what would please my enemies. No, I would 
not do it! Let come what might, somewhere there 
must be justice. 

As my trip to Milwaukee proved useless also, I 
returned to my family in St. Louis. I was convinced 
that if I did not do something we would all perish. 
But do what? I wrote to Herr von Richthofen, the 
Secretary for Foreign Affairs in Berlin, in which let- 
ter I lifted the veil from many affairs concerning the 
Embassy which until then had been shrouded, and 
once more asked for an investigation, at the same time 
saying that if it were denied me I should consider it 
my right to fight by all legal means against the mach- 
inations which were endangering my existence and 
that of my family. Herr von Richthofen might see 
in this letter the course I was determined to take in 
the future. Then I opened a correspondence with 
Herr Professor Hugo Miinsterberg, the much-spoken 
of and celebrated professor of Harvard University, in 
Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



CHAPTER XVI 



THE TRIBE OF HERR PROFESSOR 

Conceited professors ! — Professor Hugo Miinsterberg of 
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.— His statement re- 
garding German-American journalists. — He creates a doc- 
tor's degree for the Ambassador. — An arraignment of 
Professor Gustav Birchow. — Professor Miinsterberg's con- 
nection with the Embassy and the Berlin Foreign Office. — 
He threatens me with the persecution of the German 
Empire ! — Professor Hermann Schoenfeld of Washington. 
— His unexampled American career. — How he became 
American consul at Riga. — Following that in Spanish, Ger- 
man, and Turkish service. — His plan for founding a great 
English monthly. — The Ambassador's hesitation. — Hard-up 
Turks. — Declaration of the Washington Chief of Police. — 
Professor Schoenfeld and Karl Hau. — The Spider and 
the Fly. 

"Conceited professors !" Thus, according to a cable 
message to the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, the Ger- 
man Emperor expressed himself soon after the inci- 
dent of March 12, 1902, about certain German pro- 
fessors in the United States, and meant thereby, in 
the first row, the very worthy and respectable Profes- 
sor Hugo Miinsterberg of Harvard University. The 
Emperor, by this expression, struck, as so often, the 
nail on the head and by his remark removed a bone 
of contention from many German and Anglo-Amer- 
icans to whom the interference of professors of Ger- 
man birth at the Universities of the United States in 
political affairs had long been an irritation. 

I first learned there was a Professor Hugo Miinster- 
147 



148 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

berg on earth when a great hue and cry was raised in 
the German-American papers about a remark of the 
Herr Professor, in which he said, in an English maga- 
zine, of the German- American journaHsts, that they 
constantly lived in a foggy circle of beer and sauer- 
kraut and had not the faintest glimmering of an idea 
of the American situation of which they wrote. 

That was at the beginning of my activities at the 
Embassy. Soon I was to hear more of him. His 
Excellency von Holleben journeyed one day to Cam- 
bridge as a guest of the Harvard professor and re- 
turned with an honourary doctor's degree, as proud and 
happy over this distinction as a peacock. "A fine man, 
this Miinsterberg," was the comment at the Embassy, 
where many pleased faces were to be seen. American 
titles of doctorate are not particularly highly valued 
in Europe, especially in Germany, and the free distri- 
bution of the title to American politicians and Euro- 
pean diplomats does not serve to enhance its worth. 
That later Theodore Roosevelt and even Spec von 
Sternburg, who, as an old soldier, was the sworn 
enemy of all letters, were several times burdened with 
the American doctor title does not change the fact. 
I had a further proof of the activities and of the char- 
acter of these Herr professors when one day at the 
Embassy a typewritten copy of an article was given 
me which had appeared in a Boston paper. It was an 
arrogant arraignment of Professor Birchow, who, be- 
cause he had criticised the German government for its 
colonial policy, was called a ''childish old man," whom, 
even in Germany, no one took any more in earnest, 
and whose doings and harangues outside of Germany 
were altogether of no consequence. 

''Professor Miinsterberg wrote the article," Hofrat 
Kinne explained to me in the intimacy of the Embassy, 



THE TRIBE OF HERR PROFESSOR 149 

*'and his excellency requests you to give copies of it 
to the correspondents here and so spread it as much 
as possible." 

I blushed at the shamelessness of the request, took 
the copy and put it in my scrap basket where it was 
deepest. Only one copy I gave to another academic 
teacher, the no less worthy professor, Hermann 
Schoenfeld, of the Columbian University in Washing- 
ton, who was highly indignant over the attack and 
said the author was a shame to all the German pro- 
fessors in America. 

From these happenings I began to form my own 
opinion of Professor Miinsterberg. I received further 
material when one day my attention was drawn to an 
article in the Catholic Boston Pilot, in which Senator 
Henry Cabot Lodge, the well-known friend of Presi- 
dent Roosevelt, was viciously attacked and spoken of 
as the only hindrance to a friendly feeling between 
Germany and the United States. The article found its 
way, as I believe, through Paul Haediche's Deutsch 
Amerikanische Korrespondenz to the Imperial Ger- 
man press, was commented upon in this by chance 
and cabled back to America by Wolff's Bureau, to the 
Associated Press, as the emanation of German public 
opinion, where finally stress was laid upon it by the 
entire German-American press. 

"A very clever man, the professor," again was the 
comment. 

But all these and other intrigues have not been able 
to shake the faith of President Roosevelt in Senator 
Lodge or bring about his downfall. 

If any one were able to do so, Professor Miinster- 
berg seemed to me the man who would be able to ar- 
range my difficulties, and I therefore called upon him 
for help in a letter from St. Louis, in which I remarked 



150 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

that I should be obliged to resort to publicity if I 
were not able to receive fair play. I received four 
communications from the professor, from which I 
give the most striking extracts : 

FROM THE LETTER OF SEPTEMBER I3, I9OI : 

''You are right when you assume that I should be glad to 
do anything which would prevent a disturbance of the 
friendly relations between Germany and the United States. 
Therefore, I should be ready at once in your behalf to 
appeal to Count Quadt or to telegraph to the German gov- 
ernment in Berlin." 

FROM THE LETTER OF SEPTEMBER I9, I9OI I 

"The total impression your letter has made on me is that 
you have fallen in disgrace with no fault on your own part, 
and that now, in your righteous indignation, have turned 
against Herr von Holleben. On the other hand, it is clear 
that if you were to take even the smallest step towards 
bringing Herr von Holleben in discredit, either through the 
newspapers or through official personages, you would draw 
upon yourself the persecution of the German Empire for 
all time. You alone, therefore, have everything to fear. 

"But if, on the other hand, you were entirely to change 
your course, and willingly admit that you have been blinded 
by misunderstandings, and have made too much of meaning- 
less small occurrences, and that from now on you will stand 
entirely for the German Empire, earnestly striving to use 
your fine gifts for good purposes. In short, if you were to 
write to Herr von Holleben and Herr Richthofen a frank, 
honourable letter of apology, then your future would be a 
hundred times more favourable and agreeable than if you 
persevere in enmity. 

"It is still not too late to build up in Germany a solid, 
honourable, strong existence, and with your knowledge of 
American affairs to be of great use over there. I promise 
you that I will gladly do my utmost to be of assistance to 
you." 

FROM THE LETTER OF SEPTEMBER 27, 190! : 

"You must not become impatient. Were I to cable to 
Berlin, the officials would refer me to Count Quadt; and 
were I to write to Count Quadt, he would request me to defer 
everything for an oral conference, since I hope to have 



THE TRIBE OF HERR PROFESSOR 151 

Count Quadt with me on the 5th or 6th. It cannot be helped ; 
you must wait until about the 6th of October, otherwise it 
will do no good. If things are once begun, further develop- 
ment will follow quickly. It grieves me, but this is in your 
own interest." 

FROM THE LETTER OF OCTOBER 6, I9OI ! 

"I am exceedingly sorry that, after such a long negotiation, 
I cannot help you out of your trouble, and further that I 
shall not be able to take any part in the future in your affair. 
I can only say that it truly grieves me that now perhaps 
you will have to face difficult times. Hold fast to a con- 
ciliatory attitude. 

"With best wishes for your future, 

"Yours, 

"Hugo Munsterberg.'* 



I put aside at that time the advice of the professor 
to write to Messrs. Holleben and Richthofen a ''letter 
of honourable frank apology." 

My Odyssey was not yet at an end. At the close 
of November I went from St. Louis to Washington 
and found the Ambassador had just returned from his 
European vacation. My first visit was to Hermann 
Schoenfeld, professor at the Columbian University, 
and Imperial Ottoman consul general, one of the men 
who had been meant in the Kaiser's remark about "con- 
ceited professors." Herman Schoenfeld may serve 
as a type of German-American aspirers. On the same 
day that he set foot on American soil, he denied fur- 
ther allegiance to the German Emperor and took out 
his first papers, a formality which is necessary for 
American citizenship. He received this valuable docu- 
ment on the day that the allotted time of five years 
was at an end, and at the same time his appointment 
as American Consul for Riga. No German-American 
professor before him had ever had such a "record," 
and, like so many small men by nature, he accepted 



152 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

the congratulations of his acquaintances and colleagues 
with a proud smile. The circumstances of this sudden 
advancement were told to me once by my friend Ed- 
ward Leygh, the editor-in-chief of the Deutschen Cor- 
respondenten in Baltimore, in his original way : 

"There came one day a little Jew professor, suffer- 
ing from 'big head' to me in my office, and said: 
*Herr Leygh, I know how highly you are appreciated 
by the administration in Washington and what an 
influence you exercise. Lately I have been making a 
study of the Slav language and would like, in order 
to perfect myself in it, to have the position of Amer- 
ican consul in Riga, which post has become open. I 
am sure of getting the appointment if you will very 
strongly recommend me for it.' I laughed," so con- 
tinued Edward Leygh, "and gave him a letter of 
recommendation in which I explained that, according 
to my opinion, no American dog would quarrel over 
this meagre bone, and that therefore it would be as 
well to give it to the bearer, a poorly paid professor 
in Johns Hopkins University, and thereby stop his 
insistence. I have never in my whole life seen such 
a puzzled expression as came over the professor's face 
when he read my letter. 'What!' he asked me, 'you 
mean me to hand in this recommendation ?' * Yes, you 
must give that letter,' I replied, 'and I will be respon- 
sible for the result' The professor sent the letter to 
its address and — received the consulate, which is the 
poorest paid of any American consular service. A few 
weeks later business took me to the State Depart- 
ment in Washington, and nearly all the officials, high 
as well as low, left their rooms when they heard of 
my presence, in order to see me and shake hands. 
*Are you the man who wrote the letter for Professor 
Schoenfeld?' They crowded around me, and always 



THE TRIBE OF HERR PROFESSOR 153 

with the remark, 'Glad to make your acquaintance, 
Mr. Leygh!'" 

From Riga Professor Schoenfeld returned to Wash- 
ington, and there found a position at the Cokmibian 
University. As he was not in good circumstances 
financially, he was forced to make money outside, 
and his spirit of adventure led him to the idea of 
offering his services to foreign diplomats in the capi- 
tal. He had an opportunity of meeting the Spanish 
Ambassador, Depuy de Lome, who at that critical 
period occupied an extremely difficult position in 
Washington and who could not exercise too much 
care in the choice of his agents. Schoenfeld, who 
boasted to Dritten that he was in de Lome's confi- 
dence to a certain extent, was sent by him (Dritten) 
on a special mission to Cuba, whence he sent accounts 
of the conditions there to certain papers in the Ger- 
man Empire. After the Spanish Ambassador was 
obliged to leave Washington, Professor Schoenfeld be- 
came conscious of the fact that he had once been a 
subject of the Emperor. He sought with much eager- 
ness the goodwill of Herr von Sternburg, who was 
conducting the Embassy in the absence of Herr von 
Holleben, and who did not hesitate to make use of 
the historical knowledge, as well as the versatile pen, 
of Professor Schoenfeld. I became acquainted with 
Professor Schoenfeld through a mutual friend. He 
was able to tell me all kinds of interesting things about 
the social and political life in Washington, and soon 
had won my confidence to such an extent that I 
heartily recommended him to the Ambassador as a 
very useful tool. 

*'We might consider it," was the answer I received, 
"if the professor lived in a better situation." The 
professor, who was a constant visitor at my house, 



156 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

member of the English embassy he taught German, 
and therefore he might be considered as one of the 
best-informed men in the capital. 

To Professor Schoenfeld, as already stated, I di- 
rected my steps. He received me with open arms: 
"Heartily welcome, my dear colleague ! How are you 
and your family ? And your affair with the Ambassa- 
dor? I hope that has been happily settled." 

For answer I drew from my pocket the originals 
of the letters which Professor Miinsterberg had ad- 
dressed to me, and handed them to him. He read them 
carefully, and his face clouded. 

"But that surely cries to Heaven!" he shouted. 
'^Couldn't they have given Miinsterberg s post to me? 
The man draws five thousand dollars from Harvard, 
and as much more from Berlin. For that, I would 
have done it myself! Entrust these letters to me, and 
I will go with them to the Ambassador, to petition him 
for a friendly settlement of the affair." 

I entrusted him with the letters and we arranged for 
a meeting the next day at the university. 

*T have very bad news for you," he began his re- 
marks. "You are in great personal danger. You 
have menaced the life of the Ambassador, and Major 
Sylvester, the chief of police here, has told me that 
he will arrest you without further warrant and that 
you will be given no opportunity of making a state- 
ment to the press if you do not leave Washington 
to-day." 

I laughed in his face and left him. At the sugges- 
tion of a friend, the local editor of the Washington 
Post, I sought Major Sylvester and learned from him 
that he had never met Professor Schoenfeld and that 
he was guilty of an unheard-of misuse of the name 
of the chief of the Washington police. 



THE TRIBE OF HERR PROFESSOR 157 

Later I learned that the professor had had very 
weighty grounds for his attitude toward me. He 
was further, I may here remark, in secret an enthu- 
siastic promoter of the Young Turk party. 



CHAPTER XVII 
IMPLORES Roosevelt's protection 

Dark days in New York. — I implore Roosevelt's protection. — 
A federal secret-service agent hunts me up. — The black 
cabinet in New York. — Judgment of American official cir- 
cles on my situation. — Unexplainable attitude of the Ambas- 
sador. — Herr von Holleben escorted by the police. — The 
Franco-German champagne war. — The Ambassador tele- 
graphs that German "Rheingold" was used for the christen- 
ing of the Meteor, although he knew that French cham- 
pagne was used. — Remarkable communications from the 
Ambassador to the American representative of the German 
wine company. — What was established in the case of Moet 
et Chandon vs. Sohnlein. 

After my intermezzo with Professor Schoenfeld, I 
remained several days in Washington and then went 
to New York in order to begin once more my fight 
for existence. Again it was useless. My courage 
began to grow lame, my strength to leave me. Christ- 
mas came, and I was separated from my family and 
I did not believe I should ever see them again. I 
lived through terrible days and nights full of anguish. 
Should I end the tragedy? 

In a dark hour I wrote to President Roosevelt and 
asked his protection against the persecution to which 
I was being subjected on American soil by the Am- 
bassador and his army of secret agents. 

Several days passed, and I received no answer 
from Washington. The moments went by with un- 
endurable slowness and my uncertainty about my 
family's fate drove me to distraction. Was it not my 

158 



IMPLORES ROOSEVELT'S PROTECTION 159 

most sacred duty, for the sake of my wife and chil- 
dren, to leave nothing untried, if it only brought re- 
lief? 

I remembered the lines in Professor Miinsterberg's 
letter in which he advised me to write a "frank and 
honourable letter of apology" to Ambassador von 
Holleben in Washington and the Secretary of State 
for Foreign Affairs in Berlin, Freiherren von Rich- 
thofen, as then my future would be a hundred times 
brighter and more favourable. 

No, I dared no longer hesitate, if I did not want 
to be the murderer of my innocent children. I sat 
down and wrote the two required letters and carried 
them myself to the post office. I returned at once to 
my room and found — I had hardly been absent three 
minutes — a man standing before my door. 

"Are you Mr. Witte?" he asked, and continued, 
after I had assented, "My name is Peeke; I am an 
officer of the Federal secret service. You wrote a 
letter to President Roosevelt in Washington, and I 
have been commissioned to look into the affair. I in- 
tended getting here this morning, but was unavoid- 
ably detained and not able to come to you sooner." 

It was too much for my nerves. Surprise, fright, 
excitement, all united, and I should have fallen in a 
faint if the man had not caught me and laid me on the 
sofa. 

"What is the matter ? Are you ill ?" he asked. 

"Too late! — Three minutes too late!" 

"Why too late? What do you mean? Get hold of 
yourself and let me know everything. It smells here 
as if something were burning. What is it?" 

I had thrown part of my papers in the stove before 
going to the post office and the fire was just begin- 
ning to catch. 



i6o REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

With one spring he reached the stove and took out 
the charring mass. 

"You should not do a thing like that," he remarked. 
"The papers might be of great use to you. And now 
explain to me what all this means." 

Fully five minutes passed before I could so far 
collect myself that I was able to talk and answer his 
questions. I told him how I had just posted letters 
that would nullify my letter to President Roosevelt, 
that I felt very ill, and that he would do me a favour 
by leaving me alone with my thoughts. 

"But I can't do that. That would be contrary to 
my orders. I have been told to make a report about 
yourself and your complaint and must obey orders." 

I pointed to the collection of letters and papers 
which I had thought to destroy. 

"It is all the same to me now," I replied. "You 
see that I wanted to destroy the things; you may 
take them with you. You can also leave them, or, so 
far as I am concerned, throw them into the stove 
again. It will be all the same in the end." 

The Washington secret agent packed the papers 
carefully in a satchel he had brought with him and 
left, with the words: "You will hear from me 
again." 

And I heard more of him. 

The next morning the letters which I had written 
to von HoUeben and von Richthofen were returned 
to me apparently unopened. I say apparently, for 
the damp glue on the inner side of the envelopes 
showed me that they had been tampered with. 

"We have orders," Peeke said to me, "not to allow 
these letters to go to their addresses." 

The great machine of the American federal secret 
service had been set in motion to bring about the 



IMPLORES ROOSEVELT'S PROTECTION i6i 

investigation which I had demanded without result of 
the German chancellor and the State Secretary for 
Foreign Affairs in Berlin. 

After several days I was advised that the chief of 
the secret service had examined my papers and had 
assured me of his special sympathy. The American 
judgment of my difficulties was expressed in the words 
which I received officially: ''You have a very strong 
case against the German government T 

These occurrences took place before the first an- 
nouncement of Prince Henry's American trip, by 
which was added to the generally hazardous situation 
a new element of danger and tension, which was not 
without influence on my affairs. 

When the announcement of the Prince's visit fol- 
lowed, Herr von Holleben was responsible first and 
last for the result of the trip, and also answerable 
for the life and safety of the prince, and it was 
his distinguished and exclusive duty to remove all 
means of friction from the path, which in any way 
might harm the result and the mission of the prince. 
Prince Bismarck once said that diplomacy should 
know no revenge, and above all things to make sure 
that faults once committed should never be repeated. 
As a former pupil of the first imperial chancellor, 
Herr von Holleben should have made a useful practice 
of this phrase. He did not, however — to his undoing. 
His blue blood would not allow of his making a con- 
cession to a simple literary man (mann der feder). 
For excuse and justification he could always show 
tliat I had also applied to Berlin for inquiry and that 
my complaint must have been known by the chan- 
cellor, as well as by the Secretary of State. Perhaps 
he was authorised from above as to the direction of 
his attitude toward me. Even the intimate connection 



i62 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

between Wolff's Bureau in Berlin and the Foreign 
Office, the friendly relations between the Ambassador 
in Washington and Wolff's representative in New 
York, Paul Haedicke, must be taken into considera- 
tion, if one would try to find a complete explanation 
for the otherwise wholly inexplicable behaviour of 
the Ambassador. 

Be this as it may, whether he was protected by 
"higher orders" from Berlin or not, even after so 
many years I must confess that I am not able to find 
a satisfactory reason for the Ambassador's attitude, 
and still less for that of the chancellor and the For- 
eign Office in Berlin. How could one entrust to a 
man who was not able to overlook the circumstance 
of a small personal intrigue against a simple journalist 
the first diplomatic representation of the Empire? 

Herr von Holleben committed under the circum- 
stances an unpardonable act of stupidity. In order 
to crush me and find in advance an excuse in the 
event of a possible fiasco of the prince's trip, he pub- 
lished in the Washington local press an article which 
was primarily directed toward me. I received on the 
1st of February a copy of the Washington Post of 
the day before, in which the following paragraph was 
marked in blue. 

GUARDED BY THE POLICE 

German Ambassador recipient of letter threatening him with 

violence 

A special detail of two policemen from the Second precinct 
station has been constantly on duty at the German Embassy, 
on Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, during the past ten 
days or two weeks, and will be continued indefinitely. The 
officers are furnished with wheels, and attend Herr von 
Holleben, the German Ambassador, whenever he leaves his 
residence. They are attired in plain clothing, and attract 



IMPLORES ROOSEVELT'S PROTECTION 163 

but little attention, as they endeavour to remain only within 
calling distance of the Ambassador. 

The reason for the extra precaution is due to the fact 
that the Ambassador received a threatening communication 
from New York about two weeks ago, stating that he was 
in danger of personal violence. The communication was 
anonymous, but is supposed to have come from an employe 
who was discharged from service at the Embassy several 
weeks ago, and who was very angry at having lost his posi- 
tion. Little importance is attached to the communication, 
but the detail is maintained as a precautionary measure. 

The wrapping in which the Post was sent bore my 
address in the well-known handwriting of the chan- 
cellor, Ho f rat Kinne, from the German Embassy, and 
the awkward style of the notice also pointed to him 
as the composer. 

I laughed aloud, as did all social Washington when 
they read the news. The picture of the fat little Am- 
bassador flanked right and left by policemen on 
wheels was so ridiculous as to be irresistible, especially 
as for some time one had been prepared for this 
transparent manoeuvre by the Ambassador through 
private information from Major Sylvester. 

Even more farcical, repulsive and repugnant must 
have appeared to all official Washington the inglorious 
role played by the Ambassador at the christening of 
the Emperor's yacht Meteor by "Princess" Alice 
Roosevelt in the presence of her father and Prince 
Henry, and the ridiculous "French-German cham- 
pagne war" which was attached to it. The launching 
of the yacht took place on the 23d of February, 1902, 
and the daughter of the President broke a bottle of 
foaming champagne over the prow of the vessel. 
Proudly wrote the New York Staats-Zeitung, in its 
^edition of February 26th: 

"In a German vine country was grown the vine from 
which the juice was taken that flowed over the bow of the 



i64 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Kaiser's yacht when the bottle was broken, before it slipped 
into its destined element." 

"Aber nit!" said the French champagne firm of 
Moet et Chandon, '^the noble juice was drawn from 
grapes grown on French soil." And they brought 
proof of their assertion. How was this? 

The best statement of the amusing circumstance 
which made two worlds laugh at the expense of his 
excellency, the imperial Ambassador in Washington, 
is found in the Paris edition of the New York Herald, 
of March 31st. It was copied in the New York edi- 
tion, and I give below an extract: 

"A suit for damages for one million marks was brought 
by Moet et Chandon against the firm of Sohnlein & Company, 
which involves the champagne mark, 'Rheingold,' before a 
Wiesbaden court. The German Emperor, the President of 
the United States, and the German ambassador von Holleben, 
figure in the controversy." 

Even though the Herald had stated that at the 
christening of the 'Meteor French champagne was 
used, yet the German firm did not give credence to the 
report, and asked by cable the German Ambassador 
for his statement. The Ambassador cabled in return 
that "Rheingold" was used. Sohnlein & Company 
were delighted over this information and used It as 
the basis of a gigantic advertisement at home and 
abroad for their brand. Moet et Chandon, however, 
would not agree to this. They saw in the announce- 
ment that **Rheingold" had been used an attack upon 
the honour of their house. They gave the facts to 
their New York agent and demanded of him that 
he should solve the riddle and stated that money 
would cut no figure. Mr. George Kessler took the 
next steamer and went to Paris, whence, after con- 
sultation with the owners of the firm, he sent the 



IMPLORES ROOSEVELT'S PROTECTION 165 

following cable to the German Ambassador in Wash- 
ington : 

"If your words have been correctly quoted, then your ex- 
cellency must have been misinformed, as Count Quadt knew 
very well that Moet et Chandon was used. The president 
of the shipbuilding firm, Townsend, Downey & Company, 
gave you the positive information, as his firm had full and 
absolute control of the arrangements for the launching, which 
took place at their expense. In order to make good the 
great trouble which was caused by the newspaper article, 
which put in question the truthfulness of the house of Moet 
et Chandon, I beg your excellency to kindly cable an accurate 
account for the press that Moet et Chandon was used at the 
christening of the Meteor. 

"It is of the utmost importance to publish the truth about 
this occurrence, as the Moet et Chandon Company, as well 
as myself, have been morally and financially deeply injured 
by this false report. 

"Should you not be disposed to accede to our wishes, we 
shall feel ourselves obliged to present the case to the State 
Department at Washington and the government in Berlin. 

"George A. Kessler." 

The champagne firm, wounded in its honour, kept 
its word. How the German firm felt over the affair 
may be seen in the following extract from the New 
York Staats-Zeitimg of April 3d : 

"quarrel over the christening wine 

"Milwaukee, Wis., April 2, 1902. 
"The much mooted question as to whether the Kaiser's 
yacht Meteor was christened with German champagne, 
'Rheingold,' or champagne made by the French firm of Moet 
et Chandon, continues with increasing zest. It is discussed 
in Berlin and Paris with the same warmth as in New York 
and Milwaukee. The general agent here for the German 
'Rheingold,' when the French firm first made the assertion 
that it was not 'Rheingold,' but their brand, which had been 
used at the christening of the yacht, at once telegraphed the 
question to Ambassador von Holleben. The answer came 
promptly that the yacht was christened with 'Rheingold.' But 
the French firm repeated its assertion, whereupon the gen- 



i66 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

eral agent of 'Rheingold' for the second time turned to 
Herr von Holleben, from whom now came the following 
letter : 

" 'Washington, March 29, 1902. 
" 'Herren Jacob Best & Co., 
Milwaukee, Wis.: 
" 'Your kind letter of the 26th of this month crossed mine 
of the same date. Since it has been established that in fact 
"Rheingold" was not used at the christening, I shall no 
longer hesitate to explain that on the 25th of February, in 
the morning, as I was on my way to the launching, I was told 
that the firm of Townsend & Downey intended using another 
wine at the christening. I thereupon emphatically stated that 
this would be out of place, since the "Rheingold" already 
delivered had been accepted. At the launching, I was of the 
opinion that my request that "Rheingold" should be used 
had been heeded, as I saw the case which had been sent 
from Milwaukee on the dock, and called Herr von Schleinitz' 
attention to it. That the firm of Townsend & Downey even 
had the idea of using another wine I was unable to disclose, 
as by doing so before they themselves had spoken I should 
have made them suspected; and besides, as already shown, 
I believed that they really had used "Rheingold." Now, as 
it has been proved, it is another question, and the firm of 
Townsend & Downey alone is to blame for this action, con- 
trary to agreement. As concerns the box, I called Miss 
Roosevelt's attention to the fact that it, as well as the ham- 
per and the bottle, belonged to her. What became of it I 
have not learned further. 

" The Imperial Ambassador, 

" 'VoN Holleben.' " 



It is questionable if in the annals of modern di- 
plomacy there is to be found another such document 
as this letter. 

The matter ended in Germany as in America with 
the victory of the French firm. 

Herr von Holleben appeared later as a witness in 
Wiesbaden and stated before a judge that Moet et 
Chandon had been used, although he had cabled, at 
the inquiry of the firm of Sohnlein & Company that 
Rheingold was used. 



IMPLORES ROOSEVELT'S PROTECTION 167 

During the hearing it was established as a fact 
that Herr von Holleben had received a present of 
Rheingold champagne, under the stipulation that he 
would puff it up. 

Herr von Holleben, since his retirement from di- 
plomacy, has been appointed a life member of the 
Prussian Herrenhaus in recognition of his services 
to the fatherland. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



DEEPER COMPLICATIONS 



Further development of my affairs. — Ambiguous role of 
Peeke, federal secret-service agent, who later v^^as sen- 
tenced to five years in the penitentiary. — In vain I demand 
the return of my papers. — Secretary of State John Hay 
"knows nothing." — Interchange of despatches between 
Prince Henry and President Roosevelt, and what hap- 
pened in the same afternoon. — I pay a nocturnal visit to 
the office of the New York Herald. — The morning of 
March 12. — Herr von Holleben's declaration regarding the 
incident. — Complaints of the Embassy employes against 
Herr von Holleben. — About a hundred reporters visit me 
at my residence. — Engineer Buck publishes details of Ger- 
man preparedness for war against America. — Who was 
responsible for the incident? — Roosevelt, in the judgment 
of his contemporaries, and in the light of his own works. 

How things developed later I am only able to tell by 
what I know of the facts. Even to-day I am not able 
to recognise all the fine threads which were spun in 
order to drive Germany and America into a war, 
whose first offering I was destined to be. 

First of all I shall make clear that Peeke, as time 
showed, was entirely undependable and only had con- 
sideration for his pergonal interest. Since he, during 
the lifetime of McKinley, had been entrusted with 
the personal safety of the President, he received the 
highest confidence and was utilised preferably for 
commissions which demanded unqualified trust and 
the greatest discretion. 

Whether Peeke had betrayed his official confidence 

168 



DEEPER COMPLICATIONS 169 

and sold knowledge coming to him to an interested 
third party, I do not venture to assert; but I am in- 
clined to believe it, since the agent was afterward 
condemned to five years in the penitentiary for par- 
ticipation in extensive naturalisation frauds. 

This much is certain; that it was an affair of state 
which was carried out with a master hand and with 
unlimited ability — by a man who did not shrink from 
watching during times of peace the private correspond- 
ence of the Ambassador of a friendly power and steal- 
ing letters directed to him. The personality of secret- 
service agent Peeke, as well as occasional utterances 
which he let fall, inspired in me aversion and mistrust 
against him and the role which he played. My sus- 
picions grew stronger and I demanded, about the 
middle of February, in a letter directed to the chief 
of the federal secret service, John E. Wilkie, the im- 
mediate return of my papers. The New York agent 
of the secret service. Captain Flynn, informed me by 
letter that the papers, for the time, were in "other 
hands." Again I demanded the papers, but again 
without success. This time the story was that Secre- 
tary of State John Hay had the papers and that it 
was not permissible to demand them from him until 
he was through with their examination. In reply to 
a letter written to the Secretary of State, containing a 
pressing appeal for the immediate restoration of the 
papers, came an answer signed by Mr. Hay's private 
secretary saying that the papers were not in the pos- 
session of the State Department and that nobody knew 
where they were. 

Now IF THE Secretary of State Did Not Know 
Anything of the Papers, in Whose Hands Were 
They ? 

I went with this letter to Captain Flynn, who ap- 



170 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

peared very much surprised, telegraphed immediately 
to Washington, and in the afternoon sent Agent Peeke 
to me with the request not to write again to Hay. I 
have every ground for the assumption that Peeke had 
stolen a second letter which I had addressed to John 
Hay on the same affair. In any event, I am convinced 
that Mr. Hay, whom they later tried to saddle with 
responsibility for the incident, was blameless. Amer- 
ican federal secret-service agents have singular 
powers, they "know" very much, and presume many 
things in reliance upon this knowledge. 

Prince Henry's visit was approaching its close and 
it was necessary to see that the most effective depar- 
ture, with calcium lights and all the other appur- 
tenances necessary should be supplied. There should 
be a finale that would not be forgotten in Berlin for a 
long time. Since I did not cease demanding the return 
of my papers, Captain Flynn entreated me to have 
patience. When the prince should arrive in New 
York, he said, to board ship for Germany, something 
would "happen." Whereupon my papers would be 
given back to me. 

From this remark of the chief of the New York 
federal secret service bureau, it may be concluded 
that the wire-pullers behind the incident of March 
1 2th intended to set the stage on American soil dur- 
ing the presence of the prince. Apropos of this is 
an announcement according to which there was knowl- 
edge of the approaching scandal in Washington and 
New York eight days before. A German banker from 
the Metropolis on the Hudson — presumably James 
Speyer, who later donated the means for establish- 
ing a Roosevelt professorship in Berlin — is said to 
have visited the President at the White House to 
bring about a postponement of the final act in the 



DEEPER COMPLICATIONS 171 

historic drama of the prince's visit. A witness who 
is surely unprejudiced in this case, the correspondent 
of the Manchester Guardian, telegraphed to his paper 
that he had received confidential knowledge of the 
Holleben affair a week in advance. He reported that 
the proofs of von Holleben's guilt were laid before 
Roosevelt and Hay, who had determined to hush up 
the affair until after Prince Henry's departure. Von 
Holleben says (so continues the report) that he had 
written articles for a press bureau, but that the good 
ones had been composed by him and the bad ones 
by a paid agent. Roosevelt (the report runs on) 
laughed derisively at this statement. In any event 
the press had made the most of the entire affair and 
although it is almost unbelievable that a diplomat of 
von Holleben's experience could have made such a 
mistake, the report came from clear-thinking persons, 
who were entirely convinced that they were not mis- 
taken. 

Wholly and alone through fear of the German- 
American population of the country, which would 
have revenged at the polls an insult directed at a 
brother of the German Kaiser by the powers that 
be in Washington, it was decided, although with re- 
luctance, not to explode the carefully prepared mine 
while the prince still lingered on American soil. 
Hardly, however, had he turned his back on New 
York when the uproar broke loose. On the morning 
of March nth, Prince Henry left the American shore, 
after having exchanged the following telegrams with 
the President: 

"Hoboken, N. J., March 11, 1902. 
"To the President of the United States : 

"On the day of my departure, I take pleasure in thanking 
you personally, as well as the nation whose guest I have 
been, for all the kindness and tokens of sincere and cordial 



172 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

sentiment which have been shown me during my visit to 
your interesting country. I hope that my visit may cement 
the feeling of friendship between the land I represent and 
the United States. 

"In bidding you farewell, allow me to wish you every 
possible success, and please remember me to Mrs. Roosevelt 
and Miss Roosevelt, who in such a charming manner, and 
with so much dexterity, fulfilled her task at the launching of 
His Majesty's yacht Meteor. Again, my hearty thanks. 
May we meet again. 

"Henry, Prince of Prussia." 



"White House, Washington. 

"March ii, 1902. 
"Henry, Prince of Prussia, 

"Steamer Deutschland, 

"Hamburg Dock, Hoboken, N. J.: 
"Not only have I personally enjoyed your visit, but also 
I wish, in the name of my compatriots, to express the pleas- 
ure it has given us to see you, and to actually perceive the 
good your visit has accomplished in promoting the feeling 
of friendship between Germany and the United States. It 
is my most earnest wish that this feeling may ever grow. 

"Mrs. Roosevelt sends her hearty greetings, as would also 
Miss Roosevelt if she were not absent. 

"Please express my best regards to His Majesty, the Ger- 
man Emperor. 

"Again thanking you for your good visit, and wishing you 
every good fortune, wherever you may be, 

"Theodore Roosevelt." 

How sincere those words sounded! How genu- 
inely and highly must these two men have appre- 
ciated one another in order to send such telegrams! 
But even on the afternoon of the same day there 
reigned in Washington the wildest excitement, which 
reminded one of the day before the beginning of the 
Spanish-American war, and the announcement was 
given out that the German Ambassador had received 
his passports with the request to leave the United 
States within forty-eight hours ! ! ! 

The 1 2th of March, 1902, came, and brought me 



DEEPER COMPLICATIONS 173 

the visit from Mr. Egan of which I spoke at the 
beginning of this book. 

Man had deserted me, but God had heard my 
prayer and that of my children, and he humbled my 
arrogant enemy in the hour of, apparently, his great- 
est triumph, even into the dust. 

It may, perhaps, seem unchristian when I say it; 
but the satisfaction which I experienced in that mo- 
ment, when Mr. Egan handed me the copy of the 
extra edition of the New York World containing the 
ominous announcement, dissipated a great part of my 
unhappiness. 

As you remember, I explained to Mr. Egan that 
for the present I was unable to make any expression 
concerning the announcement, and that I should re- 
quest Dr. Mantler, the general director of Wolff's 
Bureau, with whom he had spoken before he came to 
me, to visit me at once in my apartments. 

Though under the circumstances it was his first and 
foremost duty, even without being told, to seek an 
interview with me, the director of the semi-of^cial 
German News Bureau did not put in an appearance. 
His attitude at that notable time was more than am- 
biguous. 

Herr von Holleben and his advisers handled the 
afifair in a thoroughly senseless passion and showed 
themselves in no wise equal to the occasion, as the 
many contradictory newspaper announcements clearly 
showed. In one paper it was stated that Herr von 
Holleben had already sailed with the prince for Ger- 
many; in another that he had gone to New York in 
a special train to consult with Dr. Biinz and others of 
the secret service, and a third one read that he had 
suddenly been taken very ill and had gone to the sea- 
shore to recuperate. 



174 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

I had made up my mind to keep silence and speak 
only after the Ambassador had spoken. With feverish 
pulses, I had gone to my rest that evening but not 
to sleep. Suddenly the bell began to ring insistently. 
I opened the door to a reporter for the New York 
Herald, who wished most earnestly to speak to me. 
There had arrived from Washington at the Herald 
office, so he told me, a telegram of eighteen hundred 
words, and he had been given the order, so he laugh- 
ingly said, to fetch me alive or dead. I replied that 
I was unable to express my views on the affair, but 
finally allowed myself to be persuaded to accompany 
him and look into the telegram. 

In the publisher's sanctum of the Herald, I found 
its leading spirits assembled around a table. They 
looked at me with gleaming eyes, as if expecting great 
things of me, and pressed me to break my silence. 
From a telegram which they had received, they had 
been led to believe, so they said, that I would be able 
to disclose an intrigue between the Democratic can- 
didate, William Jennings Bryan, and the German 
Ambassador, Herr von Holleben, which latter had 
promised the former the support of the German-Amer- 
ican voters in case the former, in event of his election, 
would guarantee to the German Empire the possession 
of a coaling station in the West Indies. If I so under- 
stood the case, I had only to acknowledge it, and they 
would take care of the rest. 

At that moment the cloven hoof of the Washington 
republican Urian came to light. The Herald atmos- 
phere suddenly appeared to me to smell of sulphur, 
and I replied that I was not in a position to give them 
the answer they were apparently expecting. I saw 
long faces. They had not expected this, and their 
hopes of a Herald sensation had come to naught. 



DEEPER COMPLICATIONS 175 

After they had assured me that they would observe 
absohite silence, I gave the assembled editors some 
facts about my conflict with Herr von Holleben. Their 
promise, however, was not kept, and my confidences 
appeared in the next edition of the Herald in a malev- 
olent, changed and disfigured form. Why had I not 
given the New York Herald the expected *'Bryan sen- 
sation" ? 

The next morning at six o'clock my bell again rang 
and from that time on was not quiet the rest of the 
day. My first visitor was a young reporter for the 
New York Evening Journal, that yellowest of all yel- 
low afternoon papers of America, belonging to Wil- 
liam Randolph Hearst. He went straight to his pur- 
pose in a business-like manner. 

''Ambassador von Holleben says," he began, and 
handed me a newspaper, "that you have accused him 
of embezzling fifteen thousand dollars. What can 
you tell me about it?" He brought out a notebook 
and waited with itching pencil for my answer. 

I could not believe my ears. Yes, there truly could 
be seen in black and white what his excellency had 
to say about an international occurrence that had 
come like lightning from heaven; that, namely, the 
whole affair was an act of revenge of a former em- 
ploye who had accused him of embezzling fifteen 
thousand dollars. 

The diplomat, von Holleben, in this explanation, 
had overstepped himself ! 

The accusation, of which no one in America knew 
anything, and of whose existence the public had its 
first news from his own lips, had not come from me, 
but from some of the officials of the Embassy who 
had been ruined by him and who charged him, to- 
gether with a diplomat since murdered, of taking a 



176 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

fee of fifteen thousand dollars at the purchase of the 
embassy building, 1435 Massachusetts Avenue.* 

Great as was my temptation f to enlighten the re- 
porter on this subject, as he waited in tense anticipa- 
tion for my reply, I overcame it; but gave him, how- 
ever, other information which entirely satisfied him. 
On leaving, he cordially shook my hand. "You have 
given me a 'scoop* over all the other papers," he said, 
''and I shall see to it that our paper does you justice. 
Good-bye." 

He kept his word. 

He had hardly left me when the bell rang again. 
A reporter and a photographer from the New York 
Evening World, Herr Joseph Pulitzer's yellow after- 
noon sheet, which was competing successfully with 
the New York Evening Journal for the palm in sensa- 
tionalism, stood before me. The reporter could not 
complain that I had let his colleague get ahead of 
him. The photographer got several pictures of me and 
the members of my family. Almost a hundred report- 
ers and photographers were admitted to my apart- 

* In addition, other serious charges are raised against the 
Ambassador of the Embassy staff. When a rich German 
had died in New Orleans, without direct descendants, so the 
story goes, he entrusted an American politician with the 
execution of the estate, against the demands of the German 
consul at New Orleans, and thereby had injured the heirs 
living in Germany to the extent of several hundred thousand 
marks, for which the government was liable. The inception 
of a disciplinary investigation is still to come. 

f Since the Embassy building purchased by Herr von Hol- 
leben was wholly unsuited for its purposes, the successor to 
the ambassador, Herr von Sternburg, received the commis- 
sion to secure damages and to help the German government 
toward an establishment more worthy of itself. If I remem- 
ber rightly, the purchase of the old Embassy building took 
place in 1897. That was rather a costly joke for the tax- 
payers of the German Empire. 



H 



DEEPER COMPLICATIONS 177 

ments in those days. Since his excellency von Holle- 
ben had first broken the silence, no obligation was laid 
upon me to further continue my reserve, and I com- 
municated to my visitors what seemed best to me of 
my experience and adversities. 

Among my visitors was also the New York Herald 
man who had gotten me out of bed in the night and 
persuaded me to go with him to the publishing office. 
To my question as to how it happened that Mr. Ben- 
nett's paper had published an account of my visit to 
the office, after promising that it would not be done, 
he replied, not without embarrassment, that it was not 
he but one of the editors of the Herald who had given 
the promise and broken it. I curtly refused to give 
him any information. The reporters present witnessed 
the scene with interest and remarked, when their col- 
league had withdrawn, "That is the way the Herald 
always does." 

As it was known that my papers were still in Wash- 
ington and that they were known to have given a 
start to the incident, there existed among the New 
York papers a struggle for the possession of my 
records. The editors of the New York Staats-Zeitung 
were particularly anxious to get hold of Professor 
Miinsterberg's letters addressed to me. Repeatedly 
their representatives spoke to me and made me en- 
ticing offers. ''The letters are at the disposition of 
your paper," I replied, "if on their account you will 
demand an investigation of the affair. But I shall 
not be a party to any muck-raking." Nothing came 
of it. 

The incident occasioned another by-play in the press 
which is worth noting. On the 15th of March, the 
New York American published a letter from S. M. 
Buck, who had formerly lived in Berlin, and had 



178 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

there heard from the mouths of high officials sur- 
rounding the Emperor that the Ambassador von Hol- 
leben and Professor Miinsterberg had instituted a 
far-reaching spy system in the United States. Pro- 
fessor Miinsterberg had been sent to America by the 
direct request of the Emperor to bhnd pubHc opinion 
to the true policy of Germany toward the United 
States, and the trip of Prince Henry had been spoken 
of in official circles two years before it took place. 
In case of a war, so Mr. Buck expressed himself, the 
German fleet would immediately possess itself of the 
harbours of Boston and New York. He named as 
witnesses Count Serenyi and consul for the admiralty, 
Langer. The New York Staats-Zcitnng thereupon 
published a long cable story from their Berlin corre- 
spondent, C. A. Bratter, as to an interview with Count 
Serenyi, in which the latter absolutely denied the 
words which had been put in his mouth. Herr Brat- 
ter, who at the present time is living in Constanti- 
nople and writing for the Laffan Bureau, the New 
York Sun and a Hamburg paper, was moreover *'dis- 
tinguished" on the occasion of the prince's visit by 
the chancellor in an autograph letter. 

On March 17th I received my papers from Captain 
Flynn's hands and signed a receipt for them. Thus 
the incident was disposed of, in so far as Mr. Roose- 
velt was concerned. It had been handled with brutal 
rough-rider ruthlessness and the world had been 
shown that an attempt at interference in the inner 
affairs of the country would not be tolerated. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE TRUTH AND THE LAW 

Who is responsible for the deception of the German press 
in March, 1902? — A campaign of secret lies and calumny. 
— My suit against the Grosz Nezu Yorker Zeitung. — "Thou 
shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." — False 
material against me is furnished from German official 
sources to my opponents. — Pastor O. Frommel, former 
German ambassador to Rome, now at Gera, Russia, be- 
comes the victim of a shameful deception. — An almost 
unbelievable perversion of justice. — Appearance of the 
"United States Correspondence." — "A Herald Hater." — 
New York Herald's slander suit against three Berlin pa- 
pers. — "There are judges in Berlin." — I am summoned as 
a witness. — Why the case never came to trial. — Astounding 
solution of the riddle. 

The truth about these critical March days of the 
year 1902 has never been known in Germany. 

That sounds unbelievable, but it is nevertheless a 
fact. While the relations between Germany and the 
United States were strained to the utmost, and the 
decision for or against war was literally in the bal- 
ance, the majority of the German press was dealing in 
page-long effusions over the result of the prince's 
trip. But not a mortal word did the public in the 
dear German fatherland learn of the deadly insult 
to the German Ambassador, and in his person to the 
Emperor, as the one responsible for the German for- 
eign policy. Never before had the union between the 
Imperial Chancellor and the Foreign Office in the 
VVilhelmstrasse and the semi-official and semi-Bleich- 

179 



i8o REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

roeder-Reuterschen-Wolff Bureau so brilliantly sus- 
tained each other as in those days. 

The general director of the official German tele- 
graph bureau, Dr. Heinrich Mantler, was at that time 
himself in New York. The report certainly then lay 
in the surest and most worthy hands ! He might have 
been able to prevent the whole monstrous scandal and 
have spared the German Empire the greatest diplo- 
matic defeat that it had ever endured, but he pre- 
ferred to play the role of the disinterested third party 
and let the evil run its course. And why not ? 

He was absolute master of the German news 
cables, and Wolff's Bureau on the corner of Zimmer 
and Charlotten streets in Berlin despatched nothing 
which had not first been examined and approved by 
those commissioned by him. 

As the ''disturber of the peace," Witte, lived in New 
York, and his return to Germany might be discounted, 
there was nothing simpler for that trio, Holleben, 
Mantler and Miinsterberg, than to make him the scape- 
goat for the whole affair. While doing so, the leaders 
of Wolff's Bureau might at the same time wreak their 
anger on the offender who had exposed their dis- 
graceful manoeuvre on the Vienna exchange, and 
thereby made it necessary for the Austrian govern- 
ment to install its own telegraph connection with St. 
Petersburg. Now the time had come, once and for 
all, to "gag" the prying fellow ! 

What in those fateful days was telegraphed 
FROM New York to Berlin has never been 

EQUALED IN THE WORLD's HISTORY FOR MALICIOUS 
AND SHAMELESS PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH. 

I learned of it only in the year 1906, after my re- 
turn to Berlin, when my wife took the trouble to look 
back over the paper files in the Imperial Library in 



THE TRUTH AND THE LAW i8i 

Behren Street, to the March editions of 1902; she 
could hardly believe her eyes, but the following is 
what she read: 

"The German Ambassador declares Witte menaced 
him with murder." 

And similar articles in the Frankfurter Zeifiing and 

i the Berliner Tagehlatt, and further: 

I *'Witte has been arrested, but released again, as 

! the Ambassador has failed to prosecute." 

The reporter for the Berliner Tagehlatt who sent 

I this private telegram was guilty of a direct lie, as I 
was never arrested, and also the State Department 
had never had the intention of prosecuting me. 

The fictitious H. telegram in the German papers 
originated with Paul Haedicke, the New York special 
correspondent of Wolff's Bureau, and von Holleben's 
confidential man. An unheard-of crime had been 
committed, so low, so cowardly, so brutal, so refined, 

1 so devilish, that happily there have been few like it in 
history. And in order to cover it up and prevent the 
truth from becoming known, a further crime must 
be committed. 

In Washington, as in Berlin, the world went forth 
to hush up the von Holleben affair, and certain influ- 
ences were brought to bear in order to reach this end 
and not allow me to be heard from. 

I I learned nothing of these machinations, but I did 

' know of the lies which certain German papers in 
New York circulated about me, and I strove to have 
a judicial settlement through a damage suit against 
the editor of the Grosz New Yorker Zeitung, the New 

I York Herald and the New Yorker Revue. 

I The outcome of the suit was typically American. 
The accused publishers. Wolfram and Mayer (Mayer 
is now representative of the Mergenthaler Linotype 



i82 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Machine Company in Berlin), retained the more than 
well-known New York attorney, Benno Loewy, and 
sent him to Germany to gather ''material" against me. 
As hotly as he worked, his mission would have failed 
and he would have returned with empty hands had not 
false information been given him from official sources. 
From documents I now have, it seems that the de- 
fendant, Mayer, was close to the German consul at 
Rome, Nast-Kolb, and that person gave him the ad- 
dress of Dr. Otto Frommel, former chaplain of the 
imperial Embassy at Rome, now in Gera, Russia, with 
the remark that this person could tell him something 
about Witte. The shamefully deceived clergyman 
was now so belaboured personally and by mail by 
Mayer, Loewy and other Berlin lawyers that he, to 
secure relief, made a deposition, later attested by the 
American consul at Leipzig, that he had been swindled 
by one Dr. Georg Witt (alias Witte) in Rome in 
1902. This person who had been, he said, the pri- 
vate secretary of Consul Nast-Kolb, had secured pos- 
session of the official German seal, deceived a poor 
German school teacher and taken money from her 
under promise of marriage, jumped his bills and fi- 
nally fled to Paris, where he wrote insulting letters 
to the consul. For identification of Georg Witt, Pas- 
tor Frommel enclosed a photograph with the swin- 
dler's autograph, and added that he now carried on 
his operations disguised with a wig. 

Since in 1892 I was engaged as director of the Ren- 
ter Bureau in Berlin and was received as such at the 
Foreign Office, it should have been easy to determine, 
were the intention honourable, that I was not the 
same as the Georg Witt of Rome. But the honourable 
intention was absent and the lawyer Benno Loewy 



THE TRUTH AND THE LAW 183 

could report to his principals that his German mission 
had been crowned with success. 

Meanwhile I had found a poorly paid position as 
editor of a German weekly, which was housed in the 
building of the New Yorker Zeitung, the publisher of 
which, as I later learned, was a friend of the defend- 
ant publishers. Three days before the hearing of the 
case I was faced with the alternative of withdrawing 
my suit or losing my position at once. They told me 
that a German minister, by name Frommel, had testi- 
fied under oath before the American consul, submitting 
my photograph, that he and others had been swindled 
by me. Should I prove obstinate in spite of this evi- 
dence, the publishers of the New Yorker Zeitung 
would use their considerable influence with the officials 
to render me harmless once and for all time; there 
were enough means to that end. 

Since I did not wish to rob my family of the meagre 
support I was affording, I withdrew my case under 
this threat. 

But the devilish vengeance of my enemies was not 
appeased by that. From that time on all sorts of 
fairy tales were spread all over America, that I was 
the swindler Georg Witt, and in this way my progress 
was impeded. 

It was a terrible battle for existence that I carried 
on then; and I could hope for freedom from it only 
if I succeeded in securing an official investigation. 
But for this very little chance was visible, for my 
petitions to that end remained unanswered. I must 
therefore go at it by indirection. At my instance, 
the publisher of the weekly I edited decided on a 
newspaper correspondence for the press of the Ger- 
man-speaking countries of Europe. It appeared under 
the title, ^'United States Correspondence," and was 



i84 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

well received. Almost every article made the rounds 
of the German papers and there was hardly a day 
that some one did not write approval to some editor 
or other. Over a signature of "A Herald Hater," I 
undertook one of the articles, publication of which 
I expected would lead to an investigation of my af- 
fairs. (The author describes at length a suit for 
libel instituted by the New York Herald against three 
Berlin papers as a result of this letter, one of them 
withdrawing its statements and the others "hushing 
it up" at the instance, he intimates, of the German 
government. ) 



CHAPTER XX 



OFFICIAL FRIENDSHIP 



Herr von Holleben forced to leave Washington suddenly. — 
"Without drum or trumpet, he took his farewell." — 
"Specky" his successor. — Women's war at the Embassy. — 
Will Frau Anna, of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, prove 
herself a good prophetess? — Herman Ridder's paper at- 
tacks Sternburg, but is silenced by the threat of founding 
a new German daily in New York. — Acceptance of a monu- 
ment to "Alter Fritz" is Sternburg's first "triumph." — The 
statue of the great king receives company. — The Kaiser's 
gifts to the Germanic Museum at Harvard. — Herr von 
Sternburg becomes a "Ph. D." — The old personnel of the 
Embassy goes out the door. — "Specky" a sick little man. 

Bernard von Bulow in the German Parliament 
angrily deprecated the constant reference that was 
made to his likeness to the first imperial chancellor. 
Very aptly and with right, in my opinion, for even 
if one admits that a smaller man is being compared 
with a greater, a serious comparison between Otto von 
Bismarck and Bernard von Biilow is out of place. 

No, so long as the man of blood and iron was 
linked to the German Empire, such an occurrence 
would never have been possible ; no power in the world 
would have dared so to insult a German ambassador, 
the representative of the holy person of the Emperor, 
as Herr von Holleben had been insulted, not to men- 
tion the scandalous ending of the trip of Prince Henry! 
But we no longer live in Bismarck's time, and to-day 
it is counted against one to stir his ghost. Thus oc- 

185 



i86 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

curred the unbelievable. The affair, with all its shame- 
ful accompanying circumstance, was simply hushed 
up, and a journalist, pursued by the hate of the news 
union, was chosen as a scapegoat, and — the honour, 
the dignity and the authority of the mighty German 
Empire had been saved. 

How it was possible to leave Herr von Holleben 
longer at his post, after he had been given his pass- 
ports, with the invitation to leave the country within 
forty-eight hours, is a riddle which Bernard von Biilow 
alone might be able to answer. It would be unnatural 
to expect from me any sympathy for the Ambassador, 
but I must confess that I felt heartily sorry for this 
poor old man, suddenly thrown from his high position, 
when he was still obliged to remain in the American 
capital, the object of open and secret scorn and banter 
of the entire official world. He went away on a vaca- 
tion, and it was said he would not again return to 
his post; but he was obliged to drink the bitter cup 
to the dregs, and once more to take the trip across 
the ocean in order to be sent home again like a school 
boy who has been whipped. After remaining several 
weeks in Washington, he was obliged to leave the 
land and the country so suddenly that he had no time 
to take leave personally of the President or the Secre- 
tary of State. The New York Staats-Zeitung wrote 
at that time : 

"On January lo, 1903, the ambassador of the German 
Empire to Washington, Dr. von Holleben, sailed on the 
steamer Waldcrsee for home, without drum or trumpet. He 
took no leave of the diplomatic corps in Washington. Why ?" 

Mr. Ridder's paper added scoffingly that the Amer- 
ican people still highly respected the gentleman. In 
contradiction to the official German announcement of 



OFFICIAL FRIENDSHIP 187 

the sudden "illness" of the Ambassador, several pa- 
pers stated that this "illness" had not interfered with 
his excellency's having a very merry time while 
waiting in New York for the sailing of the next 
boat. 

No German ambassador has ever before left his 
post as did Herr von Holltben, and Berlin accepted 
it quietly, with a Christlike forbearance, made no 
protest, but even heaped coals of fire on the head of 
the guilty delinquent. 

The affair turned out as was desired in Washington. 
The successor of Herr von Holleben was the personal 
friend of President Roosevelt, Freiherr Spec von 
Sternburg, who had warned me against the introduc- 
tion of the Ambassador to Prince Eulenburg, and in 
doing so laid the seed to all future developments. 
The jump from the post of German consul general in 
Calcutta to that of Imperial German Ambassador to 
Washington was a performance the like of which no 
acrobat of German diplomacy, however clever, had yet 
attained. 

Freiherr Spec von Sternburg is not a descendant of 
an old German noble family, as was claimed for him 
by the American newspapers, but is — of which fact he 
should be proud in democratic America — of poor and 
obscure origin. Even his grandfather, a plain shep- 
herd, was named Speck, but he knew how to use a 
natural talent in the care of his fortune and so to 
enlarge it that he was able to buy the property of 
Liitzschena, near Leipzig, where, with great success, 
he bred the so-called electoral sheep and developed 
a good breed. For his services as a sheep-breeder, 
the former shepherd Speck was knighted by the Ba- 
varian government and received the name of Freiherr 
Speck von Sternburg. 



iSS r^ V-ELATI02VS c»F A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Ar arni^smg: HuscdDie -vridci: dais? ir^jm -umz zrnt 
HEST nor be ore of piar^ iierp . 

DiU ' in g £ xir r Er^ if Sexdztt i: L^ipzi^;. 

"me iD*wi: V25 . : _td, rnd riit Hie^ly madt Frei- 

jasrr did noi isil i: dezDcriE £ in? properrr. -w-indi uras 
or ibf: E^ichsirasst, and i: provide £ iransparency on 
"^iud: vaf ~"n if pr^irr Ter^e : 

" DL. wDniL tHHT ir onr Sexdt^ 

A -wrirrr Ijssjmg shoensaker, wiio irved opposiie 
Speck, se^ed ine oppDrnmirr tC' pre our ibe -- - 
nxg Terse on iiis iransDarenrr : 

1 z-t:v at backi of iic^s, 

. - peck irora: ttii5 -eanr 
1 - , ^L grow rmr" h:lw ir nobk wunii.'" 

-Azcer ir^ ' - . ' Mardi, Trnicn 

■WcLS onh" si:r „.. __: _iie Ambassador 

XL the ioliovniH' year, besar ihe <jerniaii poHcT of 

gtiis and iart'-.:- 

In order ti' _r. , _._. :„_... -l_i„-l iic ihe reprt- 
semHiive of the 'jemsn: Zraoirfc. M-srrilie ±1. Siont 
of liie -' ■ . - . r: 

li and . "s of aH tbe xQosr -wideiT -n^^A 

papcTt were irr 

Qnir one ^^ - '-'"'- ^^^- ^ GremLLn. me 2Ce"w 

Tort Ftofli^Zi". . "--'i^ an openlj hosdle arrirade 
' Herr vot Siembnrg. and on e^^eanr possible 
-.__£.;.. L icade fim of nfm espeoaT'T si at tbe rrme 
of ibe v-eL-izDOvi: giiarre] crv^-er eaqiierte. TR'iieii ibe 
qnesnoi: ?ame up- wbeiber tbe ^^'A^ of tbe Ambassad'Or 
^urnid nake ibe nrsi call on tbe wfres of tbe secre- 
larieE, or iice v^tssl. 



OFFICIAL FRIENDSHIP 189 

The Kladderadatsch at that time immortaHsed that 
tragi-comic episode in the following poem: 

HOW THE WOMEN TREAT EACH OTHER 

There sat side by side two women, in a far-off land; 
Up spoke the noble von Sternburg to the Senator's wife : 
"How my husband stands so gloriously before all the senators, 
Just like the shining full moon before the little stars!" 

Back spoke Mrs. Senator: "Let him be as fine as he may. 
You must not understand amiss what I am going to say. 
You must still do just as every one else has done. 
In all politeness, I must receive the first visit from you." 

"Oh, you would exalt yourself," broke out Mrs. Ambassador. 

"Well, I will show you whether in the future 

You will not observe the customs here in America." 

By this time both women were in pretty stormy mood. 

So they parted, and went their ways in a huff; 
And then to her husband said Mrs. Baron Speck: 
"I can't pay the first visit to this hussy. 
Cannot the creature get that into her head?" 

The noble Herr von Sternburg, when thus weeping he saw 

His beloved wife, right tenderly replied: 

"She will never get away with such rude talk. 

Weep not, dear wife. I shall write it fearlessly to Berlin. 

"The husband of this egotist shall repay her talk, 
Or he will never meet me among the ambassadors." 
Men should bring up their wives, then wrote the dauntless 

warrior, 
So that they would leave unsaid such impolite language. 

Thus wrote Herr Speck. Alas ! it came about 

That in Washington many a hero had to leave the capital. 

An adder bit him. Many an elected idol. 

Through the cackling of women, was lost to the capital. 

On the occasion of the Washington women's war, 
the New Y^ork Staats-Zcitung, in an article entitled 
''Women in Politics," called to mind Bismarck's prin- 
ciple of sending no diplomatic representative to a 



# 



I90 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

country whose wife was a child of that country, and 
the well-known editorial writer, "Frau Anna," in Herr 
Ridder's paper was permitted to enlarge on this theme 
in an article occupying almost two columns, which 
rang in these prophetic words : 

"Possibly, sooner or later, a mighty political scandal will 
open the eyes of the Emperor and the entire official world, 
and a cleansing storm will clear the atmosphere surrounding 
the throne. In the interests of the dignity of the German 
Empire abroad, such a phenomenon is much to be desired." 

When in the Staats-Zeitung women begin to take 
precedence in leading articles over politics, then must 
the political barometer have fallen very low : 

"It is dangerous to awaken Skal, 
Destructive is the tooth of Kidder; 
Yet frightfulest among the frightful — 
That is 'Frau Anna' in her wrath." 

This humorous paraphrasing of Schiller's verses 
went the rounds at that time in New York and caused 
much amusement. 

But the many-sided Professor Miinsterberg of Har- 
vard University, who was seldom at a loss for an ex- 
pedient, knew also how to get rid of the New Yorker 
Staats-Zeitung and "Frau Anna." 

In several large newspapers there appeared at that 
time announcements "from the best source," wherein 
it was claimed that a new large German newspaper 
was to be founded in New York. This paper, it was 
said, would appeal to all the Germans in New York 
who were dissatisfied with the eternal wrangling and 
crookedness of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, as 
well as with its political faithlessness, which first took 
this side and then the other, and would excel it in all 
points, both editorially and technically. 



OFFICIAL FRIENDSHIP 191 

Money would be of no consideration with the new 
paper, as there would be unlimited means at its dis- 
posal, namely, the treasure of the German Empire. 

Herr Bernard Ridder, a German-American "self- 
made man," who had risen from a messenger boy to 
the all-powerful leadership and part owner of the 
New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, began to be afraid. There 
might possibly be some truth in these statements, and 
if, as was claimed. Professor Hugo Miinsterberg 
should undertake the chief editorship 6f the new 
paper, then the Staats-Zeitung would be obliged to 
reef its mainsail. Herr Ridder therefore thought it 
best to reform, a reconciliation banquet took place, 
and the proclaimed newspaper did not appear. 

The President, in the White House, lost no time 
in demonstrating publicly that he was in fact the 
friend of the German Ambassador. Soon the latter 
was able to write in triumph to Berlin, as his initial 
performance, that he had been able to overcome the 
President's objection to the erection of a monument 
to Frederick the Great in Washington, and thus the 
requisite consent was assured. This great deed of 
Herr von Sternburg was served to the German press 
with the customary effusiveness; only, they forgot to 
mention the circumstance that the erection of the 
statue was conditioned on the erecting also of statues 
of Hannibal, Cccsar and Napoleon, and these with 
American money. The world laughed and made fun 
of the idea of putting up a monument to an absolute 
king in republican America. But the practical Amer- 
icans knew, as usual, how to escape their dilemma, by 
placing the statue of Old Fritz in front of the new 
military academy, where, in the company of the three 
other war heroes, it was not likely to rouse further 



192 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

controversy. ''Teddy" had helped ''Specky" to his 
first success. 

For the sake of truth, I must state that the pubHc in 
the United States, even to-day, is not enthusiastic 
over the monument to Frederick the Great, and sees 
in its erection a sin committed against the spirit of 
the Republic. Some wanton, to whom the ''historic 
friendship" between the United States and Germany 
was an open outrage, has since, as is known, made an 
attempt to blow it up. Luckily a negro prevented 
the design, and received as reward, by commission of 
the Foreign Office, through the Ambassador, a silver 
watch. The gift aroused all the American papers to 
scornful jibes. "Was a silver watch an imperial gift?" 
they asked, "and did the saviour of the monument get 
a silver watch because he was only a 'nigger' and would 
the saviour, if he had been a white man, have been 
entitled to a gold watch?" 

Also, the founding of the Germanic museum at 
Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
which is the centre of Anglo-American "Kultur," met 
with open, as well as secret, suspicion. In connection 
with the Emperor's gift, a so-called Germanic Museum 
Association was created, in which all the most promi- 
nent and influential men of the country were invited 
to take part as in sympathy with the Germanic spirit 
and "Kultur," and to assist in laying the foundation 
for a policy friendly to the German Empire. The 
object, however, was noted in many circles and was 
generally denounced. Evil-minded people even went 
so far as to see in the Kaiser's gift a second Trojan 
horse, and to call to mind the proverb, "Fear the 
Greeks when they come bearing gifts." 

Naturally Herr von Sternburg was not spared, after 
becoming ambassador, the honour of being made an 



OFFICIAL FRIENDSHIP 193 

honourary doctor of different American universities. 
That his friend "Teddy" was at the same time his 
associate must have consoled the old major, and sworn 
enemy of all pen-pushers, for the mortification im- 
posed upon him. 

Under Herr von Sternburg an entire change took 
place in the personnel of the Embassy. The secre- 
taries, who perhaps had not taken him seriously 
enough, and their noble wives, who were unwilling 
to pay due reverence to his plebeian American wife, 
the officials of the government office, who had made 
sport of reports made out by him — all were obliged to 

go- 
Nothing in the Embassy was costly and fine enough 
for the new mistress of the Embassy. All the old 
furniture was disposed of and must be replaced by 
new, which was better suited to her refined American 
taste. An enthusiastic description of the changes 
which had taken place appeared in the German papers 
of the country, from Louis Viereck's pen, the only 
Social Democrat delegate who was lucky enough to 
have ingratiated himself as a Roosevelt republican 
agent and reporter of the social news of the German 
Embassy. 

The personal appearance of Llerr von Sternburg 
is not what one might call exactly imposing. He is 
small and lank, with a curiously dull complexion, which 
gave rise to so many unpleasant remarks by Herr von 
Holleben; and for several years he has suffered from 
rheumatism, as well as from a bad ear trouble, which 
makes it almost impossible for him to fulfil his busi- 
ness, as well as his social, obligations. Though, in 
spite of his large income as ambassador, he entertains 
very little, the small home of the former ambassador 
soon became too small, and the German Empire became 



194 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

possessed of a property, through his management, in 
a fashionable quarter of the city, on which is now 
being built a mansion with which even the most critical 
could find no fault. Unfortunately, this was an occa- 
sion for bringing up again the old bad matter; it was 
deemed curious that the building bought by Herr von 
Hollcben hardly ten years before should be considered 
insufficient. It called to mind the sum which von 
Holleben had paid, and comments were made not very 
complimentary to the predecessor of Herr von Stern- 
burg. 



CHAPTER XXI 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 



The press in Germany and America sees everything through 
Berlin spectacles. — Melville E. Stone received by the Kaiser 
with princely honours. — The German postmaster general ac- 
cords "A. P." despatches priority over all other telegrams. 
— The New York Staats-Zeitung a zealous agent for Ger- 
man interests. — Astonishing remark made by Herr von 
Holleben concerning the Kaiser's speeches. — Does the pub- 
lic in Germany and America hear the truth ? — Sad decline 
of the German-American press. — My experiments with the 
Germans of Albany, N. Y. — Everywhere the same indif- 
ference. — Industry of reprint and "boiler-plate." — The Ger- 
man's role in politics. — Is he undependable and venal? — Per- 
sonal liberty and lager beer. — I help elect Mayor McClellan. 
— Support from the New York Staats-Zeitiing brings mis- 
fortune to candidates. — George von Skal as a speaker. — 
Two souls dwell, alas, in his breast ! 

Herr von Holleben had departed, but the Holleberei, 
as some German-American papers remarked, still re- 
mained — the system of deceiving and leading astray 
public opinion in Germany and America. Herr von 
Sternburg gave himself great trouble in this respect, 
to walk in his predecessor's footsteps, and with the 
help of the most prominent specialists of the press, 
such as Melville E. Stone, and Professor Hugo Miin- 
sterberg, his effort met with great success. 

One should always bear in mind that to-day the 
people of America, as well as the people of Germany, 
know as little of one another as they did a hundred 
years ago and depend entirely upon the news as given 

195 



196 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

by the great telegraph offices, where they receive it in 
very homeopathic doses. As the telegraph bureau sees 
the thing and reports it, so the German and American 
newspaper readers see it ; so that it follows that who- 
ever controls the telegraph bureau is in the position 
to instruct or mislead at will public opinion in both 
hemispheres as required by circumstances. Two tele- 
graph bureaus in the United States provide the papers 
with news from Germany, the Associated Press and 
Laffan's Bureau in connection with the Sun. Mr. 
Melville E. Stone, who is first and last a business 
genius,* understood what unbounded possibilities were 
open for him if he were to follow the wish of the 
German government and make the American people 
see the German-American policy with German specta- 
cles; and his business interests measured his decision. 
It would pay him better to be the friend of the Ger- 
man Empire, rather than the enemy, and Melville 
E. Stone, who had accepted as a thing quite natural 
Wolff von Schierbrand's dismissal from Berlin; who, 
together with Professor Miinsterberg and Director 
Mantler of Wolff's Bureau, had a conference in a pri- 
vate cabin of the Kaiser's yacht Hohenzollern; who, 
by the arrangement of a great banquet, brought Herr 
von Sternburg into personal contact with all the lead- 
ing editors of the country and recommended him to 
their benevolence — then the clever business man, Mel- 
ville E. Stone, took a business trip to Berlin, where he 
was received with princely honours, about which he 
sent the following interesting news to an American 
paper : 

* Mr. Stone is known the world over as, first and last, a 
"newspaper man," and what follows proves his prowess as a 
news-getter. 






PUZZLES AND POLITICS 197 

"The Emperor stood near a chimney, in the background 
of the room, and around him stood the Empress, Prince 
Heinrich, Princess Irene, Prince Eitel, and Prince Leopold. 
There was no one else in the room. I was introduced to 
the Kaiser. He greeted me cordially, spoke in English about 
my Berlin mission, and expressed his pleasure at the idea 
that the American people would now be in a position to see 
Germany through German eyes. He explained frankly and 
at length that he felt a hearty good will toward our people, 
and that he would give the necessary orders so that the Asso- 
ciated Press would be given a satisfactory position in Ger- 
many. Finally, he turned to Prince Henry, with the words: 
'Here is a gentleman whom you know.' The prince stood 
beside him, greeted me, and added: 'I should like you to 
meet my wife, also.' He thereupon introduced me to his 
wife, the Princess Irene. She was very kind, spoke of her 
English ancestors, and of the pleasure it gave her to meet 
some one who spoke her mother tongue. 

"In the meantime, several hundred people who were wait- 
ing audiences had been admitted to the ante-chamber. The 
court marshal approached me, and said that the empress 
was ready to receive me. She was very gracious, and said : 
'I hope that you will have a pleasant stay. You are very 
welcome, and we would like to convince you of the fact.' " 

The details in regard to quickest means of forward- 
ing the telegrams were settled with the postmaster 
general. At Mr. Melville E. Stone's Suggestion, 
AN Agreement Was Made, Whereby a Little Red 
Tag with the Word "America" on It, and Writ- 
ten ON A Telegraph Blank, Would Give It Pre- 
cedence IN THE Whole German Empire Over All 
Other Telegrams. The telegrams of the German 
people were therefore obliged to wait, in order that the 
Associated Press should be despatched first. The post- 
master general, I am thinking, must have found it a 
little difficult to explain in the Reichstag this extraor- 
dinary favour accorded to a foreign company, at the 
expense of the German taxpayers! 

After the Associated Press, the next thing was to 
secure Laffan's Bureau as an influence in swaying pub- 



198 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

lie opinion to a policy friendly to Germany. For this 
purpose the New York Staats-Zeitung was mobilised, 
which announced to its readers in the most salient 
style, on the day of Prince Henry's departure from 
America, that, being led by the desire of the paper 
always to improve the news service, they had come 
to an agreement with Laffan's Bureau by which from 
now on Laffan's telegrams would also be printed. This 
news came as a surprise to the unitiated, as the Staats- 
Zeitung already received the despatches of the Asso- 
ciated Press, besides a daily cable letter from Berlin. 
Even the rich Anglo-American papers of the country 
had not thought of such a luxury as to desire a con- 
nection with both large rival despatch bureaus at the 
same time. Only — the German Staats-Zeitung was a 
happy exception to the rule. 

Among all the reporters who visited me on the mem- 
orable 1 2th of March, there was also the representa- 
tive of the New York Sun, Laffan's paper. He said 
to me: 'T have not been instructed to ask as to the 
truth of your statement, as we know that you are 
genuine; I only wish to ask you if you really made the 
statement. Unfortunately, we shall not be able to take 
up your affair and appear for you, as for several days 
we have suddenly been good friends with the German 
Empire. I am surprised," so he continued, ''that no 
German has been found who has had the courage to 
draw the attention of the statesmen in Berlin to the 
imperious necessity of an inquiry into your affair. 
We of the Sun know what a service you have ren- 
dered to your government in Washington and New 
York." 

The third big agent for influencing public opinion 
in the United States in regard to the policy of the 
German Empire, is the New York Staats-Zeitung, 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 199 

which, after the manner of several larger Anglo-Amer- 
ican sheets, resell their cable despatches to English 
and German newspapers of the country. The '*old 
woman of Newspaper Row," as she was named by 
her contemporaries, looks back on remarkable changes. 
Old Oswald Ottendorfer, born in Austria, and actual 
participant in the revolution of 1848, could not look 
with much enthusiasm upon the policy of Berlin, espe- 
cially after Bismarck's dismissal, and it needed first 
the downfall of the consul general Feigl after the Kis- 
sengen affair of the big New York merchant Stein, to 
bring about a change in his views. 

''Herr Ottendorfer and I dined alone together one 
evening in the German Club," Mr. Feigl himself told 
me, "and I made use of the opportunity to convince 
him from a business point of view of the shortsight- 
edness of a policy which took pleasure in hateful at- 
tacks on the person of the Emperor and the Empire. 
Herr Ottendorfer saw the logic of my remarks and 
promised improvement, which promise he faithfully 
kept. If now and again there have been unfriendly 
side leaps from individual editors, for these he was 
hardly responsible." 

These "side leaps of individual editors" increased 
decidedly while Herr von Holleben was Ambassador 
to Washington, and were chiefly directed against the 
Kaiser's speeches, which for the most part were mer- 
cilessly torn to pieces. Herr von Holleben and the 
former editor-in-chief of the New York Staats-Zei- 
timg, Paul Loeser, were good friends and showed each 
other many little favours, which, as is well known, 
cements friendships. When the attacks on the Kaiser 
in the Staats-Zeitung did not cease, Herr von Holleben 
appeared one day in Paul Loeser's private room on the 
fourth floor of the Staats-Zeitung building, and, in 



200 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

the heat of discussion, used an argument which prob- 
ably never before has been spoken by an imperial 
German ambassador. He said : "We both know, my 
dear Loeser, you and I, that the Kaiser often uses 
expressions which had better have been left unsaid 
(the Ambassador used here another expression, which 
I, out of regard for the press laws, am not able to 
repeat) but is there any moral reason for your readers 
to know this and always to be reminded of it through 
your paper?" Paul Loeser laughed, and the attacks 
on the Kaiser ceased. 

When in the year 1906 Herr Bernard Ridder went 
to Germany for a visit, he had the honour of being 
introduced by the American ambassador, Charle- 
magne Tower, to the Emperor in Wilhelmshohe, near 
Cassel, and of being invited to the imperial table. 
"The commanding general of the German-American 
press," who, by the way, was not able to speak or 
write the German language correctly, took pains dur- 
ing his stay in Germany to sign his name "Ritter." 

For a powerful machine, such as that in the United 
States, where the Associated Press, Laffan's and the 
New York Staats-Zeitnng are united in a spirit 
friendly to Germany and are firmly determined to al- 
low no message unfriendly to Germany to pass, there 
would naturally be no need in the German Empire, 
where the entire press receives reports from America 
through the Wolff Bureau, which, as the organ of the 
imperial chancellor and the Foreign Office, allows not 
a word to go through which could be unpleasant or 
unfriendly to its backers. 

To Learn the Truth About Events in the 
German Empire and America, as Well as the 
Mutual Relationship of These Countries, Is, 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 201 

Under the Circumstances Just Described, an Im- 
possibility. 

It is highly questionable, however, whether the Ger- 
man Empire in a crisis would be able to trust its pub- 
licity agents. 

After the lesson of the 12th of March, 1902, on 
which day both all powerful directors of the Associa- 
ted Press and Wolff's Bureau left the Ambassador en- 
tirely in the lurch, I should decidedly say no to this 
question. 

A few words about the German-American press and 
its significance in relation to public life in the United 
States may here be of use. It is, I must confess to my 
sorrow, in a sad condition of irremediable decline. 
It is entirely overshadowed by the Anglo-American 
press and is dying a slow but sure death on account 
of lack of funds. If I except certain large cities, 
where there are still German papers with all the signs 
of outward prosperity, though they are already at- 
tacked by a deadly germ, I see the same sad situation 
everywhere. After the increase of prosperity in the 
German Empire, the emigration from Germany, at 
one time so heavy, became less, the first German emi- 
grants died, and the second generation thinks and 
feels entirely American. The Germans born in Amer- 
ica, who have attended the public schools, can not 
and have no desire to read or speak German, and there- 
fore turn away from a press which for them appears 
in a foreign language. It is hardly believable how 
little use the Germans in America have for a German 
press and German literature. 

From my own experience I shall give a typical ex- 
ample which speaks whole volumes; in Albany, the 
capital of the state of New York, the German popu- 
lation of which is put at about 30,000, I was for a 



202 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

time owner and publisher of the Her old, a German 
daily which had appeared in that city since 1850. 
When I took over the paper, I desired to enlarge the 
extraordinarily shrunken list of subscribers, and of- 
fered valuable prizes for the securing of new read- 
ers. To my astonishment, the paper won through this 
offer not a single reader. To solve the, to me, baffling 
puzzle, and to go to the bottom of the matter, I pub- 
lished a great advertisement, one which hit the eye, 
with an attached coupon in which to every one who 
brought to the paper a new reader, even for the term 
of one week, at the price of ten cents, I promised, en- 
tirely free, a beautiful elegantly bound copy of the 
surpassingly practical "Kuerschner Conversation Lexi- 
con" in one volume, the price of which was one dollar. 
I never had the pleasure of making a present of a 
single one of these really beautiful premiums, since 
not a single subscription was brought to the paper. 

I was not yet satisfied and determined to go still 
further. From the former owner of the paper I had 
taken over a great number of pictures of the Kaiser 
and his family, which, in a suitable frame, made a 
really pleasing wall decoration. I published a new 
advertisement, more immense than the previous ones, 
and offered to every reader who would call in at the 
office for the purpose a copy of this work of art en- 
tirely free. Again the same experience. Not a single 
picture was taken away. 

This same culpable indifference of the Germans in 
America toward their press may be observed in nearly 
every large or small town in the country. In the big 
cities, where at one time it was possible to support two 
or three rival German daily newspapers, now they are 
obliged to join forces if they wish to exist. This 
was the case in three of the most German large towns 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 203 

of the Union, Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis. It 
happened in Cleveland, Pittsburg, San Francisco and 
many other cities besides. 

Of the many German papers remaining to-day, the 
majority would not exist if it were not for the so- 
called "boiler plate factories," which make it possible 
to save the wages of typesetters and writers. These 
plate industries, on the other hand, only exist through 
the many copies which appear in the German and 
Austrian newspapers and magazines, whose contents 
they compose. The plates are cast from type, sold at 
a very moderate price, and sent to their purchasers. 
Self-respecting newspapers ought really to hold them- 
selves aloof from the ''plate" articles, but when even 
a paper like the St. Louis Westliche Post does not 
hesitate to serve daily to its subscribers this ready- 
made literature, one cannot blame the smaller and 
poorer papers, which have a hard struggle for exist- 
ence. 

The difficult struggle for existence of the German 
papers sentences them all too often to play the role 
of political servants who are obliged to render sordid 
services to both parties and to be satisfied when a 
bone is thrown to them out of these ill-smelling spoils, 
which no one else wishes. "To thoroughly understand 
is to forgive," and therefore one ought not to despise 
and condemn the poor German journalists in America, 
without whose tragic and heroic struggle the German 
language would long since have perished in the land 
of dollars, but rather accord them deep and sincere 
sympathy. When, as so often happens, a German 
newspaper appears with an unprinted inner sheet, the 

beloved public laughs and remarks: "The d 

printer is not able to pay for his 'patent insides' again," 
but is unconscious of the difficult battle the poor news- 



204 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

paper man daily endures. It is naturally impossible 
to expect of the German newspapers, which have to 
struggle for their existence, that they should remain 
true to a conviction. When the time comes for a 
political election most of them are "on the fence," as 
the Americans say; that is, one foot is in the Repub- 
lican, the other in the Democratic camp, with an eye 
to the way things are going to turn out. 

Politics in America is a business which is expected 
to yield returns, and the German-American publishers, 
who one year work for the Republican and the next 
for the Democratic party, are not even conscious of 
their disgraceful proceeding. If one were to question 
their attitude, the only answer would be from the 
newspaper man as well as from the members of Con- 
gress who are accused of corruption, that one is not in 
politics for his pleasure! 

The almighty dollar is the golden calf which all 
America, high or low, worships on bended knee. Even 
the greatest German papers are bound, in order to 
keep their lead, to join in the chase after the dollar 
and are thereby obliged to overcome all obstacles. 
The Anglo-American papers are able to allow them- 
selves the luxury of a political conviction. The cor- 
ruptibility of the German-American press is too apt 
to reflect upon the German-American inhabitants in 
general, and that explains why the German-Ameri- 
cans of both parties are only regarded as so many 
votes and play no role in political life, or at least have 
played none up till now. 

Several years ago I was speaking with one of the 
New York political leaders regarding the situation in 
general, and he made the cynical remark that he and 
his friends never paid any attention to the German 
element, as they were always absolutely sure of them; 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 205 

"if we begin four weeks before the election," he 
added, "we can buy all the German votes we need." 

The New York Staats-Zeitiing plays a very un- 
lovely part in party political camps. In the eyes of 
the Anglo-Americans it is still the "great" German 
sheet, the "great" Staats, although for a long time 
the number of its subscribers did not warrant this 
consideration. Anglo-American politicians believe 
that whichever side wishes the support of the German 
voter must secure the goodwill of the Staats-Zeitung. 
But the experience of the past few years has shown 
that this rule by no means holds. In fact, the bad 
luck of the New York Staats-Zeitung in political af- 
fairs has almost become proverbial, so that it is con- 
sidered a good omen to be fought by it. When George 
B. McClellan, who is now mayor of New York, was 
put up for the first time for the office, there was in the 
whole German language no word too evil in which 
to express the contempt of the Staats-Zeitung for the 
Tammany candidate. He won by one of the greatest 
majorities ever attained by a mayor of New York; 
and their candidate, Mayor Seth Low, for whom the 
Staats-Zeitung had worked passionately, learned to 
his cost what the Staats-Zeitung friendship was worth. 
At the next city election the Staats-Zeitung (whose 
land and building had been bought by the city) came 
out for George B. McClellan as the best mayor New 
York ever had, and designated every one a traitor 
who did not think likewise. The friendship of the 
Staats brought bad luck to McClellan, who only got 
his majority by several hundred votes, and even at 
that was fought by his opponent, Hearst, who claimed 
for himself the victory and threatened to have a re- 
count and prove that a well-known printing house had 



2o6 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

printed tickets the entire night after the election so as 
to ''correct" the unfortunate result for McClellan. 

Things went even worse at the last presidential 
election, when the Staats-Zeitung supported the Demo- 
cratic candidate, Alton B. Parker. After the Ger- 
man paper had declared, two days before the election, 
that the country would send him to the White House 
with an overwhelming majority, and that every true 
German would cast his vote for him, the exact oppo- 
site was the result and Alton B. Parker disappeared 
from the political stage of the republic. 

It was during the last presidential campaign that the 
leading New York spirits of Deutschtum particularly 
clashed. Carl Schurz, the old forty-eighter whose po- 
litical judgment was considered in the German circles 
on both sides of the ocean as an unfailing oracle, 
gave a long manifesto against Roosevelt, whom he 
likened in character to Chamberlin, and whom he 
accused in all his action of having thought only of 
his personal advantage. In the camp of the German 
Roosevelters this letter called forth a tremendous in- 
dignation, and Arthur von Briesen, a noted New York 
advocate, who had likened Roosevelt to a "model Ger- 
man citizen,'' answered in writing wherein he criti- 
cised very severely Schurz' political acts, accused him 
of political unsteadiness and declared in harsh words 
that Schurz had always rendered his services for a 
stated sum. It was also proved at this time that 
Schurz' son, a very young lawyer, had not hesitated, 
as the juridical representative of a charitable asso- 
ciation, the German "Rechtschutzvereins" (Legal Aid 
Society) to put in his pocket a yearly income of $6,000 
from the accumulated savings of poor Germans. The 
controversy became very heated on both sides, and 



^ 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 207 

Carl Schnrz did not get the best of it. Such occur- 
rences did not add to Germany's credit in the Anglo- 
American circles of the inhabitants. 

That the Germans in America are Indifferent and 
lukewarm in political affairs, is an incontrovertible 
fact, which both parties try to exploit for their uses. 

The true "furor teutonicus" of the German-Ameri- 
can only flames forth when his most precious posses- 
sion Is attacked — his beer. Then he becomes as wild 
as a "Berserker'* and brings about at the polls the de- 
struction of any candidate in whom he sees an enemy 
of his personal freedom, namely, the freedom to 
drink beer, as often, as much, and as long, and also 
on Sunday, as he wishes. Because under the Repub- 
lican mayor, Seth Low, the German saloon-keepers in 
ISTew York were oppressed, Seth Low fell when he 
tried for oflice a second time ; and the Tammany tiger, 
who. In violation of the law dating from the time of 
the Pilgrim Fathers, allowed the Germans, even on 
Sunday, to slake their beer thirst, and even after po- 
lice hours to enjoy a drop, succeeded in electing its 
whole ticket, with the help of the German beer 
drinkers. 

I must confess that T look upon the election of 
George B. McCIellan, the Tammany leader, as a ques- 
tionable service of which I am In no wise proud, 
though I was Instrumental in getting him into office, 
as shortly before voting day I Issued a campaign news- 
paper in the German language and wrote an article 
which rallied all German beer-drinkers to give the 
Tammany candidate their votes. As a curious exam- 
ple of the American campaigning, and a sample of 
what one has to offer the German-American, and what 
he accepts, I here repeat the article: 



2o8 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

"to the GERMANS OF NEW YORK: 

"The dearest interests of Germanism are at stake in the 
election on November 3d. Therefore, think well before cast- 
ing your vote ! Two candidates are seeking your votes for 
the office of mayor — the one the candidate of the Democratic 
party, General George B. McClellan; the other the Repub- 
lican-Fusion candidate, Seth Low, our one-time 'reform' 
mayor. 

"It ought not to be difficult to choose between the two 
men. 

"For nearly two years, now, you have been the objects 
of deliberate persecution, such as never before has been 
known in the city of New York. We will not go into the 
details of the unexampled campaign of lies and deceptions 
which won for the present mayor the 'Fusion' victory, but 
we will remind you of the promises which this man gave you 
and has broken in the most shameful fashion. 

"Remember how Seth Low, before his election, represented 
himself as a partisan of free and liberal views, and pre- 
tended to be your particular and true friend; how he prom- 
ised a liberal rendering of the assize laws; how he gave his 
word that your harmless Sunday amusements and club meet- 
ings would not be interfered with. Remember how he pre- 
tended the deepest interest in the German language, art, and 
customs, and how he promised to give you a model city 
administration, without partisanship ! 

"You all know how the worst era of the most arbitrary 
police rules and regulations has been instituted, such as are 
not to be seen even in darkest Siberia; you all know how 
the Germans have been declared outlaws, and how every one 
was marked as a criminal who drank his glass of beer on 
a Sunday, in the good old German custom ; how the German 
saloonkeepers were injured, and how the entertainments in 
German clubs were more ruthlessly oppressed than the ques- 
tionable pleasures of the 'Tenderloin' district. 

"You all know how Mayor Seth Low refused to receive 
the delegation of German clubs, and added his voice to the 
lessening of the instruction of German in the public schools, 
when he had solemnly bound himself not to lessen it! 

"You marvel at the insecurity of the streets and public 
places of the city, in which robberies and murder are the 
order of the day ? And yet the explanation is simple : 

"The 'reformed' police, under the guidance of the worthy, 
if disreputable, 'Asphalt' General Greene, has so little time 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 209 

to trouble itself about the criminal rabble because its leader 
is giving so much time to decent people, for the Germans 
must be persecuted. Is there still among you one who does 
not know for whom to vote on November 3d? Remember, 
if by your act the 'Honourable' Low is returned for a second 
term as mayor of New York, you will have only yourselves 
to blame, and no one else. 

"In his re-election you would justify his former adminis- 
tration and spur him on to still further and more shameless 
persecutions. If he has scourged you in his first term, in 
his second he would punish you with scorpions and rob you 
of your small remaining rights. Think well of what vou are 
about to do ! Your path is clear before you. Think and 
feel as Germans, act also as Germans : remember the warning 
of your immortal countryman, who in troubled times cried 
from the rostrum of the German Reichstag, *We Germans 
fear God, and nothing else in the world !' German fellow 
citizens, show that you remember this adage, and that you 
do not fear the Republican fusion 'reform' administration, 
which treads you under foot, by sending it and its entire 
ticket to the devil on November 3d. Germans ! Our logical 
candidate is George B. McClellan. Long live German unity, 
and down with all enemies of the German cause !" 

In the same number of this campaign newspaper, I 
took occasion to pay closer attention to ''Hermann 
Ridder and the Nezv Yorker Staats-Zeitung" and the 
singular attitude displayed by him in the election. I 
wrote at that time (October, 1903) : 

''The peculiar political situation has placed in a 
very false position our esteemed contemporary, the 
New Yorker Staats-Zcitung and her publisher, Her- 
mann Ridder, a position in which she must perform 
the most daring feats of tight rope walking in order 
not to lose her balance. 

"Hardly two months ago Llerr Ridder declared 
most decidedly that Mr. Low under no condition could 
be elected for the second time as mayor of New 
York. In an interview with Senator Piatt, repro- 
duced in the Brooklyn Eagle, Herr Ridder expressed 



2IO REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

himself regarding Mayor Low in a fashion which left 
little to be desired for clearness. 

"Hardly two months after this utterance, Hermann 
Ridder, who wants to be a Democrat, contradicts him- 
self, since in the Staats-ZeiUmg, which pretends to 
be a Democratic organ, he comes out for the re-elec- 
tion of the Republican ^reform' mayor, of whom he 
himself has maintained that he wanted to hand over 
the city of New York in next year's national and state 
elections to the Republicans!! 

"Sometimes it is pretty hard not to write a satire. 

"Putting it mildly, the political stand taken by the 
Staats-Zcitung during the last year is remarkable. 
How she smote herself on the breast two years ago 
when the Tammany ticket was to be fought, and yet 
she was able to reconcile it with her conscience to 
uphold the same ticket the next year when a brother- 
in-law of Herr Ridder, Judge Amend, found himself 
upon it; and now again a somersault!! 

"The political behaviour of the New York Staats- 
Zeitung is a riddle, in order to solve which even her 
own editors would have to break their learned heads. 
We ourselves do not venture on the problem. But in 
view of the universal interest that is displayed toward 
it we would do our part to aid in the solution ; and to 
that end we promise to send free copies of this paper 
for a year to all those happy enough to solve it." 

Just two years later the New York Staats-Zeitimg 
used its whole influence in the re-election of George B. 
McClellan, whom, two years before, it had fought so 
bitterly. Again the impotence and unreliability of the 
Staats was demonstrated, but what did it matter? 
Hermann Ridder and his editor-in-chief had received 
before election large guarantees. The municipal ad- 
vertising patronage is always worth something, and 



PUZZLES AND POLITICS 211 

Herr von Skal received a municipal position with a 
yearly income of $5,000, and one which demanded 
none of his time. 

I have seen with surprise that imperial German pa- 
pers of the first class have published political news 
from the pen of Herr von Skal. Herr von Skal can 
in no way be taken as authority for American affairs. 
He is a journalist condottieri, whom Hermann Rid- 
der, who is unversed in the German language, can use 
for his purposes and who will do whatever is required 
of him. As an example : At the time of the Venezuela 
crisis, when leading American circles were asking 
anxiously how the German inhabitants of America 
would side in the event of a war between Germany 
and the United States, Herr von Skal was speaker 
at a political banquet of the Society of the Genesee. 
Amid the stormy applause of those present he de- 
clared that the Germans in America would under all 
circumstances remain true to the land of their adop- 
tion, even unto death, and in the hour of need would 
be the first to grasp their weapons to defend their new 
fatherland, whoever might be the aggressor. The 
New York Herald had a long article about this cele- 
bration, of which, strange to say, the Staats said not 
one little word. 

Some time later Herr von Skal was speaker at the 
consecration of a new flag for the German Warriors 
Club in New York, in which he exhorted those pres- 
ent, his "comrades," to unswerving fidelity and loyalty 
toward the old victorious colours. This was reported 
in full by the Staats-Zeihing, not one word being 
omitted. No invitation had been extended to the New 
York Herald. 

Herr von Skal dominates in the circles of the New 
York German Press Club, which is entirely dependent 



212 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

for its existence on the Staats-Zeitiing, but outside of 
that he is not taken seriously by a living soul in 
America. 

The instances here given may suffice as examples 
of the character of the German press in America. Far 
be it from me to say that there are no honourable men 
among the German knights of the pen in the United 
States, but unfortunately they are in the minority and 
are not able to keep afloat against the mighty stream 
of corruption. As dark as is the outlook for Ger- 
manism for the future, so also is that of the German 
press in the United States, which with it will sink or 
swim. 



CHAPTER XXII 
"hands across the sea" 

"Hands across the sea." — German-Americanism once and 
now. — German prominence. — What Germanism in America, 
before the decHne, could have saved. — Is the present move- 
ment the rising or the setting sun of Germanism? — The 
German-American National Union of the United States. — 
Outline and scope. — Connection with Pan-Germanism. — 
German as well as English circles mistrust the organisa- 
tion. — Other associations. — Will Prince Oscar study at 
Harvard University? 

The United States is at present the centre of a move- 
ment for Germanism, which to the disinterested has 
pathetic interest. Out of a population of seventy-six 
millions, there are, according to the last census, about 
three million German born. These three million em- 
body the old guard which would die rather than sur- 
render. When they emigrated, circumstances were 
quite different from those existing to-day. In those 
days any one was welcome who had a pair of strong 
arms, no matter whence he came. The Revolution of 
1848 drove hundreds of thousands of Germans, edu- 
cated, well-to-do and willing to work, across the ocean 
to the land of freedom and equality. They opened up 
the unlimited American West, built towns in which the 
German element predominated, founded newspapers, 
churches, schools, cultivated the German language, 
and built up, so to speak, a state within a state, a 'lit- 
tle Germany" in the great Republic. Some hotheads 
among them, who understood American customs and 

213 



214 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

American institutions, went in for politics, which was 
paved with gold for them. The majority, however, 
took little interest in public life, but went quietly about 
their own business, and, as a recreation from the toils 
of the day, devoted their evenings in the old German 
style to music and beer. They read regularly the 
''news from Germany, Austria and Switzerland," 
wherein they sought all the events of the old home, 
even in the smallest towns and villages ; kept track of 
the death notices, so as to know if a dear friend or 
relative had died, and left everything else to God. 
And why not? They were so much better off than in 
the old home. Their property increased, their noses 
reddened, their stomachs rounded out, and it was not 
long before they began to belong to the German 
''prominency" whose doings the local German press re- 
tailed, whose pictures appeared on all occasions, suit- 
able and otherwise, and from whose hand the report- 
ers, who once in Germany had carried the Emperor's 
coat, or had belonged to some such high calling, were 
not loath to accept, with a respectful bow, a tip. 

In this cringing before the so-called "German 
prominency" is to be found one of the principal rea- 
sons why the German press in America is so little 
respected. I especially name the evening editions of 
the New Yorker Staats-Zeitimg and the New Yorker 
Herold as particularly blameworthy. So it happens 
that every club steward believes he has the right to 
have his picture, his name, and a detailed description 
of his deeds and those of his family appear in every 
German newspaper. 

For several years the intelligent Germans in Amer- 
ica have seen the inevitable ruin. The emigration, at 
one time so large, with the increase of prosperity in 
the German Empire, has become less, and the sons 



"HANDS ACROSS THE SEA" 215 

and daughters born in the new home have grown up 
Americans who think, feel and act as such and have 
no desire to know more of the old fatherland, hard 
as their parents may try to make them see things after 
their own ideas. 

''Very often Oswald Ottendorfer, Paul Loeser, the 
owner and editor-in-chief of the New Yorker Staats- 
Zeitung, and I have sat with our heads together," so 
William Steinway, head of the New York piano house, 
told me, "and discussed ways and means as to how 
to prevent the decline of Germanism in America. 
Herr Ottendorfer and Herr Loeser well knew that 
every death notice which they announced in their pa- 
pers meant for them one less subscription. And not 
only a loss for the German paper, but also for the 
German school and German church. The German 
churches, at one time so well patronised in all parts 
of the country, now gape in their emptiness, and most 
preachers are forced to give their sermons in English, 
as the younger generation understand only English. 
The only thing which would help Germanism in the 
United States and give it new life would be a war be- 
tween the two countries or a revolution in the Ger- 
man Empire. But these are possibilities for which we 
do not hope or wait and which must not come into our 
calculations." 

The principal reason for the astonishing movement, 
which for several years the prominent Anglo-Ameri- 
can statesmen in Washington have thought to notice, 
is the rapid loss of power which American Germanism 
has sustained by reason of the death of the first im- 
migrants. 

When, however, the historian of this movement 
likened it to a "serene sunrise in the eastern sky of the 
twentieth century," I should like to contradict him. 



rrr J^-.-ZL.ATIOXS OF A GI:RM.\X ATTACHE 

ever zz ibe risk ci "nsm^ called 2 hereiic cm accomn 
of nrr xiews and of beir^: sen tc< zht funeral pile. 
This mcrremem ds^es noi grre rbe impressiacQ cf 2 
'"serene smnise." bm ih ai of a briliiar: sunset, whose 
bnTriymre is reneded in ihe nmar^em for a long 
period afier ihe day has ended. ^A~ha: we see and 
21^ espenencing is ihe heroic death smigg-ie of ihe 
legion, whid: is sis^oned ai a losi p'OSi and is moring 
xoward an rrr,?' fare. '"Are. Caesar, morinrri 

'BDm in zh± szDTiirr n^ie? ::' the Spanish- AxQericran 
war. ihe movemen: i?wari 'Semanism in the L'niied 

Stare? r ' -" - :rease in erer-greaier drdes. 

-After i-- _ : tower br preventing" the ad- 
ministrati'On m 'n'asnmgion from embarrassing devel- 
opments wt± tt-: ~-' — ■" ~ " — -■' 7 lav nearer 

lz thetr hearts i. . , ring imt a 

solid whole, whicn no panv m ttie c^onnrnr wonid be 
abte to despise wiihorct fear c-f pimishmeiiL 

On *• German Daj," October 6. 1901, -die German- 
ism of America was assembled in Phiiadelphia, Pem- 
STJi-atna, and cm that ^day the <jermar>- American 2\a- 
ti-onal IT-mom of the United States :f A^merica was 
esTabTished. Professor Kern wrote of it: 

"Tht r£5rreseiEHi:ve5 di rwenrr-iwD srsies. twice as mHHj 
as canmrr^c ai iht iDimding of the Uniied Stales, com- 
pieisc thfr wtirk of DrgRTTiSTr-ipn. Tbedr names belong to 
iiistory: anb* p05i.erii_\ -vril know bo-vr to appreciatf vhat 
liicfe*: TTHT begar on that toemorabif: qet.'* 

"VMsai the obieci of the cirganisati'on is wiH best be 
understciod by its " and c: ' Li- 
give bolii, as tbpv - : extra ' . : : 
tbe reader of tkns book : 

''Z~nt iiencar-AiQericaa: XatiDnal Unicm of the Uiiited 
SiaKS DI AiDencs. is cong^osed of 5tat£: nrrians of German 



''HANDS ACROSS THE SEA" 217 

clubs. The object of the union is to awaken and promote 
a feeling- of unity in the inhabitants of America of German 
origin, to a useful and healthful development of their indi- 
vidual power, which, when centralised, will be an energetic, 
mutual protection for such rights and interests as are not 
contrary to the common good of the couRtry, and the rights 
and duties of those bom in the country for the defence 
against native encroachments; for the cultivation and secur- 
ing of good, friendly relations between America and the old 
German Fatherland What the German immigration has 
done for the advance of the intellectual and commercial 
development of this country, and is further called upon to 
accomplish, how they have always been true in good and 
bad times, is knoMVn in history. 

"The organisation, therefore, demands full and honourable 
acknowledgment of these services, and will fight any attempt 
to belittle them. Always true to the adopted fatherland, 
always ready to give their best for it ; good, honourable, and 
unselfish in the performance of their citizen's duties; sub- 
missive to the laws — must still be the watchword- 

"The object is not the founding of a state within a state. 
but sees in the union of the people of German origin the 
shortest way and the best defence for the attainment of its 
object. It therefore summons all German clubs — as the 
organised representatives of Germanism — to work for their 
sound, strong development; and suggests, therefore, further, 
the establishing of clubs for the maintenance of the interests 
of German- Americans in all states of the Union for the final 
centralising of the same into a great German- American 
union; and it should be the solemn duty of all German clubs 
to belong to the organisation of their state, 

"The union pledges itself by all possible lawful means to 
maintain and disseminate its principles and strongly to de- 
fend them where and whenever in danger. 

"It next proposes the following platform: 

"i. The union — as such — holds itself aloof from mixing 
in party politics, yet without prejudice to the right and the 
duty of defending its principles, even in the sphere of poli- 
tics, should these be threatened or in danger through political 
attack or means. 

"2. Religious matters and questions are strictly debarred. 

''3. It recommends the introduction of the instruction of 
the German language in the public schools on the following 
basis: Next to English, the German tongue is the world 
language in the most obscure portions of the world; wher- 



2i8 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

ever the pioneer has penetrated with commerce and civilisa- 
tion, there we find both languages are represented. 

"4. We live in an age of progress and discoveries. The 
tempo of these days is fast, and pitiless in the demands 
made on the individual. The bodily exertion connected 
therewith increases the demands on the bodily strength. A 
healthy mind should dwell in a healthy body, 

'Tor these reasons it is the object of the organisation to 
introduce into all public schools a systematic and purposeful 
gymnasium instruction. 

"5. It further stands for the separation of the schools 
from politics, as only a free educational concern is able to 
offer to the people a true institution of learning. 

"6. It demands of all Germans to become citizens as 
soon as the law allows, to take an active part in public 
affairs, and fearlessly and according to their own judgment 
to do their duty at the elections. 

"7. It recommends liberal, up-to-date enforcement or the 
repeal of such laws as needlessly render the acquirement of 
citizenship difficult or impossible. Good reputation, decent 
public life, love of law, should decide the matter, not the 
answering of a lot of inane political or historical questions, 
which frequently embarrass the applicant. 

"8. It takes a stand against any restriction of the immi- 
gration of healthy persons from Europe, with the exception 
of criminals and anarchists. 

"9. It recommends the suppression of such old laws as 
are no longer suitable to the times, which hinder free com- 
merce and confine personal freedom. 

''10. It recommends the establishment of educational cen- 
ters as places for cultivating the German language and liter- 
ature, for the instruction of those anxious to learn, and for 
the holding of lectures on art and science and questions of 
universal interest. 

"11. It recommends a systematic investigation of the 

assistance of the Germans in the development of their 

adopted country in war and peace, in all departments of 

German-American activities, from the earliest days, for the 

\\ founding and furthering of a German- American history. 

"12. It reserves for itself the right to extend or complete 
this platform, if there appear new events which would make 
it desirable or necessary." 

Naturally these axioms must be taken with a grain 
of salt. For example, the first paragraph of the Na- 



"HANDS ACROSS THE SEA" 219 

tional Organisation states that the organisation will 
remain out of politics — it speaks only of mixing in 
party disputes — but that, on the contrary, it reserves 
the right to defend its principles, should these become 
endangered by attacks in the political arena. How 
could the organisation be so blind as to believe that 
it would be able to arrive at its end by spiritual means 
alone! No, the American politician is awed only by 
a powerful number of votes at the polls. 

Some estimate as to the usefulness of the organisa- 
tion up to the present time may be of general interest. 
It developed an energetic agitation for the interven- 
tion of the government of the United States in the 
war between England and the Boers, and presented 
for that purpose a petition to Congress, which, accord- 
ing to the secretary of the organisation, weighed more 
than four hundred pounds and would, if put together, 
have been more than five miles long. 

The president of the National Organisation, Dr. 
Hexamer, at that time made this memorable remark to 
the Republican members of the House Committee for 
Foreign Affairs: "Should you not allow this peti- 
tion to go further, should you bury it among old bills, 
then I assure you that you will lose the whole of the 
million votes of the German-American national or- 
ganisation 1" 

In spite of this threat, which appeared in large type 
in all the Anglo-American papers of the country, the 
petition was doomed to obscurity and nothing was 
heard of it. 

When General McArthur made the speech in which 
he announced that America's next war would be with 
Germany, the organisation sent the chauvinistic gen- 
eral an open letter in which his punishment was de- 
manded of the government. This communication of 



220 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

the organisation shared the same fate as the Boer 
petition, and nothing further was heard of it. 

The organisation also took up the question of per- 
sonal liberty; that is, the freedom for the unlimited 
buying of beer and whiskey on Sundays, but again 
with little or no result. 

It should be emphasised that the appearance of the 
organisation in the country's politics was regarded 
even by German-Americans with some doubts and 
misgivings. The New York Staats-Zeitung made 
open expression of these views, and several papers of 
the interior states, especially Ohio, protested on sev- 
eral occasions against the meddling of the organi- 
sation in politics. Especially suspected of the alliance 
was its union with the "Alldeutschen A'erband," which 
it had openly admitted. 

The man at the head of the national organisa- 
tion (Alliance), Dr. Hexamer, was born of German 
parents in America and was an engineer by profes- 
sion. How he conceived the idea of becoming the sa- 
viour of Germanism in America is described by the 
honourable pan-German journalist, H. F. Urban, very 
dramatically, as follows: "The oldest German Amer- 
icans can still remember the time when the German 
in .America was freely termed, 'damned Dutchman' 
and was exposed to open insults as well as attacks. Dr. 
Hexamer likewise experienced this. As the son of 
Germans he was dubbed 'Dutchman' and taunted by 
the boys of the school, as is indeed still the custom. 
But since he had brought with himself into the world 
hard German fists, he did not allow the insults to pass, 
but replied to his tormentors with a vim. Not only 
that, but other German comrades came to his assist- 
ance, boys who had been similarly mistreated. It was 
almost the familiar story of Moses' youth, of which 



"HANDS ACROSS THE SEA" 221 

the Bible says: 'And it came to pass in those days 
when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his 
brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he spied 
an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. 
And he looked this way and that way, and when he 
saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and 
hid him in the sand.' So far as this, it is true, Hexa- 
mer did not go. But his anger and resentment of the 
treatment of all Germans and of all German things 
were, without doubt, just as strong. The determina- 
tion grew up in him to oppose this contemptuous at- 
titude toward Germans with other weapons than fists." 

The German-American Historical Society stands 
in very close relation to the organisation and is an 
offshoot of the "German Propaganda for America." 
It seeks in all parts of the country for traces of Ger- 
man activities, so as to gather them systematically to- 
gether and publish them in its monthly magazine, 
American Germanica. One department of the Histor- 
ical Society is the Ethnographical Society, which, hav- 
ing special regard to the German elements, investi- 
gates the ethnographical state of the country. 

In close unity with the Historical Society there is 
another society which completes it, in that it has set 
itself the task of bringing to the notice of the Ger- 
man element, as well as the citizens of other ancestry, 
the great "kultur work" of the Germans in their en- 
tire history from the earliest times to the present. 
This is the "Germanic Museum Association" in Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts, which has been established un- 
der the auspices of the old and honourable Harvard 
University, the mother of all Anglo-American culture, 
and which appeals to cultivated Americanism and in- 
directly seeks to win through it a policy friendly to 
Germany. 



222 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

It was Professor Miinsterberg who proposed this 
society, to my knowledge, though it is generally 
thought to have been Professor Kuno Franke. It is 
also possible that the Kaiser decided, at the instance 
of both professors, upon the magnificent endowment 
of plaster casts of Germanic antiquities, which is the 
origin of the Germanic Museum at Harvard. It would 
be another expression of the particular satisfaction the 
emperor feels toward Professor Miinsterberg, who al- 
ready has been decorated with the first-class order of 
the Red Eagle, if, as certain papers announce. Prince 
Oscar, the fifth son of the emperor, was to matriculate 
as a student at Harvard University and in democratic 
fashion take his place at the feet of Professor Miin- 
sterberg among American students. 

Will Prince Oscar take this journey? 



CHAPTER XXIII 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 

The Central Alliance of German Veterans' and Soldiers' 
Societies of North America. — Its fundamental declaration. 
— Hand in hand with the National Union. — Richard Miil- 
ler, a one-time Prussian subaltern, the man at the head. — 
He had been received by the Kaiser and Prince Henry 
personally, and corresponded confidentially with the highest 
German officials. — The German soldiers' societies in Amer- 
ica recipients of numerous distinctions from the Kaiser 
and the German princes. — Visits of German battleships to 
American harbours. — Telegrams of greeting made to or- 
der. — Portraits of the German princes, flags, and orders 
find their way across the ocean. — If two do the same thing 
it is not always the same. — What is right for the Germans 
in America should be so for the Poles, Danes, and French 
in the German Empire. 

Analogous to the organisation of the ''German Na- 
tional Union," there was another started which was 
in the closest connection with it, namely, the "Central 
Alliance of German Veterans' and Soldiers' Societies 
of North America," which accepted into its organisa- 
tion only those Germans who had received honourable 
dismissal from the German army or navy and could 
prove this by a document. The fundamental rules of 
the organisation bore great likeness to those of the 
"National Union." I give them below : 

"The Alliance must be the united, powerful, finished whole 
for all German soldier clubs of the United States, with the 
object of creating everywhere in our adopted country a 
genuine feeling of German comradeship and a future of 
proud brotherhood of arms in Germany's sturdy population. 

223 



224 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

All questions that are of special interest to the German 
soldiers' clubs, as also to Germanism in general and its ideal 
blessings, such as pertain to language, manners and customs, 
belong to the domain of the powerful, efficient assistance of 
the Central Union." 

Still another and quite particularly noble object 
which the Alliance has in view is always to be a 
mighty support and a strong power for preventing 
an interruption of the strong friendship which has 
existed for more than a hundred years between Ger- 
many and the United States. All lawful means, such 
as lectures, readings and agitations, will be employed. 
To preserve the friendly relations between the two 
powerful culture countries, for the good of both, are 
among the objects of the "Central Alliance." 

Very Important is the point in the constitution 
which states that the "Central Alliance" shall work 
hand in hand with the "German-American National 
Union" as far as their interests lie in common, and 
these are very many. 

The American army in time of peace is estimated 
at one hundred thousand — on paper. The "Central 
Alliance of German Soldiers' Societies" is, how- 
ever, so strong that from its own ranks it can set 
against each active American soldier two or three, yes, 
even more, German veterans. At the head of this im- 
pressive German army in the United States is the 
president, Richard Miiller, a born plotter and organ- 
iser, and a former Prussian artillery officer, and who 
has had the honour of being personally received by the 
emperor and Prince Henry, and who is in communi- 
cation with the highest German army and navy offi- 
cers on a footing of comradeship, and whose word is 
law for the hundred thousand old German warriors 
in the United States. A little big man, this Richard 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 225 

Muller, whose side occupation is that of saloon keeper, 
and even though he is a confidant of the emperor is 
not ashamed to offer his guests a glass of beer with 
his own hand ! A year ago Admiral Biichsel made it 
possible for Richard Miiller to be in the Emperor's 
suite on the occasion of the great fall parade at the 
Tempelhofen Felde. A cablegram to the New York 
Staats-Zeitimg gave a report of this important exploit 
the following day: 

*'Mr. Miiller drove in Admiral Biichsel's carriage to the 
field, where the carriage stood directly behind that of the 
Emperor. Prince Pless introduced Mr. Miiller to the Em- 
peror, who gave him his hand from his horse's back, and 
invited him to the castle after the parade. 

"There the Emperor greeted heartily the comrade of the 
'Central Alliance of German Veterans and Soldiers' Societies 
of North America.' When the Emperor heard that Miiller 
had served in the artillery, he asked him if the American 
artillery were as good as the German. The Emperor ex- 
pressed his pleasure over the telegram of greeting which 
had been sent by the 'Central Alliance,' and asked Mr. Muller : 
'How many are you over there? Do you come together 
often?' At parting, the Emperor extended his hand once 
more to Herr Miiller. The Emperor was in the most jovial 
humour during the interview with Mr. Miiller, and at the 
parting invited Mr. Miiller to be present at the Zapfenstreich 
in the evening." 

A noble spirit of comradeship bridges over the 
chasm between the active vice admiral and the for- 
mer Prussian under-officer. Richard Miiller is the 
happy possessor of letters from many high official 
personalities of the German Empire, among others 
such a one as Vice Admiral Biichsel, which he himself 
had published in the New York Deiitschen Presse. 
I give it below: 

"Berlin, January 17, 1902. 
"My very esteemed Mr. President: 

"Again this year I have received the best wishes of the 
comrades of the 'Soldiers' Societies' for a happy New Year. 



226 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

I wish to express my hearty thanks, and return your true, 
comradely wishes most heartily. May the Union, under the 
trusty leadership of the nine times re-elected president, con- 
tinue to be a rock of defence for true German opinions and 
German customs ! 

'The coming reception of his Imperial Highness Prince 
Henry of Prussia, on which occasion the German Soldiers' 
Societies will take a leading part, will recall to my mind 
the time I spent in New York, almost nine years ago, and 
especially the day when, on the deck of the Kaiserin Augusta, 
you, honoured Mr. President, offered me, at the head of 
the comrades, a memento of the society. Since that time 
there have been many changes, here as there, but one thing 
has remained, which is the true loyalty of the members of 
the Union to the old home and their adherence to German 
customs and German comradeship. 

"I hope also that his Imperial Highness, the Prince Ad- 
miral, in spite of his short stay and the many demands which 
will be made on his time, will have an opportunity of greet- 
ing the comrades, and therefore I have made his Imperial 
Highness, Excellency von Seckendorff, acquainted with the 
object and work of the Union by sending him a copy of the 
report of the sailing of the Deiitschland, a report of the 
founding and activities of the Union, and a copy of the 
statutes. 

"I hope, therefore, that this first sending of a Hohenzollern 
prince to the United States will assist in raising the position 
of the Alliance and increase the desire of all members to 
hold true to the principles. 

"I remain, honoured President, with best thanks for your 
faithful reports, and a greeting to all the comrades, 
"Yours truly, 

"BiJCHSEL, 

"Vice Admiral." 

Without in the least wishing to doubt the spirit of 
true allegiance to America, which the members of the 
German Sodiers' Societies so often insist upon; with- 
out any motive of bringing into question the distinc- 
tions and attentions which they have received in the 
past few years from official German places, it still 
must be freely and openly stated that this intercourse 
between official Germany and the Emperor's subjects 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 227 

who have emigrated to America, whether these have 
become citizens under the stars and stripes or not, is 
sowing the seed of serious complications with the gov- 
ernment in Washington, for incidents not seen in ad- 
vance and not to be foreseen, which might over night 
bring the two powers into serious difficulties. From 
the imperiahstic German and pan-Germanistic point of 
view, it is naturally very gratifying when the Em- 
peror, who once declared that every German in for- 
eign parts might have recourse to his protection, re- 
members his former subjects and sends them flags in 
the German colours, sashes, orders, medals, monu- 
ments and such proofs of his favour. 

But let us look at the matter from a purely Amer- 
ican point of view, and these occurrences will appear in 
quite a different light. I give below a few reports on 
the dedicating of flags, etc., which I have taken word 
for word from German-American papers. They will 
speak equally for friend and foe. 

When the first flag ever presented by Kaiser Wil- 
helm II was received by the "Central Union of the 
German Military Clubs of Chicago and Vicinity," 
the German Ambassador, Dr. von Holleben, made the 
following remarks : 

"A greeting from the German Kaiser ! That is the cry 
with which I step before you. His Majesty, my gracious 
master, has commissioned me to give to the German Military 
Union of Chicago the flag which it has so long and ardently 
desired, and with the message that it is to remain for one 
year with each of the clubs which belong to the Central 
Union. The flag is a token of favour and recognition by 
which the German emperor, in love and friendliness, thinks 
of those who once have served in the German army; of 
those, many of whom have drawn the sword for the Father- 
land, and many have shed their blood for it. 

"This flag shall be a symbol of German fidelity, of German 
manliness, and the honour of the German soldier. His 



228 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Majesty be,s:s yon, as former Germans, and now as Ameri- 
cans, to accept this flag as a true sign of the unity and har- 
mony which should reign among all German soldiers, and 
begs you still further that in distant countries you should 
preserve German fidelity and German sense of duty, and that 
you should take as your rule of conduct the saying of a great 
German man, which runs : 'We Germans fear God, and 
nothing else in the world!' Let the flag wave. then. In this 
moment of enthusiasm let us give the cry which must now 
be fluttering on the lip of every old German soldier: 'His 
Majestv, the German Kaiser, Wilhelm the Second. Hurrah ! 
Hurrah! Hurrah!'" 

The flag is made of white silk, and has stripes in the 
German colors. One side is the German imperial eagle, with 
the legend: "With God, for Kaiser and Country." On the 
other side is embroidered the Prussian eagle. Under both 
coats of arms are to be found little star-spangled banners. 
The dedication runs : "Consecrated to the Central Alliance 
of Soldiers' Clubs, by his Majesty William 11." 

On the thirtieth anniversary festival of the Ger- 
man Soldiers Club of Chicago, the oldest club of the 
kind in the United States, both imperial flags aroused 
great admiration, namely, that of Kaiser Wilhelm I 
belonging to the Soldiers Club, and that of Wilhelm 
II belonging to the central organisation of German 
military clubs. From the fest-platz the following tele- 
gram was sent to the Emperor: 

"The German Soldiers' Club of Chicago, the oldest in the 
United States, upon which, in 1876, our hero. Emperor Wil- 
helm I, most graciously bestowed a flag, sends on the occa- 
sion of its thirtieth anniversary, by decree of the twenty 
thousand present, a most dutiful greeting." 

A flag with similar inscriptions was presented by 
the German consul in St. Louis to the "German Mili- 
tary Club" there. In an address as to the intention 
and purpose of the giver, the consul made the follow- 
ing remarks: 

"This splendid flag might and will exhort you to preserve 
a faithful adherence to the old Fatherland; to keep up the 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 229 

German language, and to teach it to your families; it will 
also spur you to imitate those virtues by which the German 
army has been distinguished at all times: Loyalty, bravery, 
a sense of duty, discipline. Hold fast to these virtues, and 
with your adherence to the old you will be good and useful 
citizens of your new Fatherland." 

Besides a telegram of thanks to the Emperor, one 
was also sent to Prince Henry. The latter had been 
the means of procuring the imperial gift for the club. 

During the St. Louis Exposition, a soldiers' fes- 
tival was celebrated in 'The German Building," on 
which occasion the Emperor was sent a congratulatory 
telegram, to which was received the following answer : 

"Mr. Carl Schmidt, Chairman of the Central AUiance of 
German Veterans, St. Louis: 
"His Majesty, the German Emperor, heartily thanks you 
for your telegram of homage, and hopes that the organisa- 
tion of German veterans and warriors will still further pre- 
serve their love for the old home and their allegiance to the 
German army, in the interest of Germany. 

"Von Plesses, 
"General Adjutant." 

On the occasion of the presentation of a black- 
white-red flag to the ''Veterans Society of Philadel- 
phia," the following summons appeared in the Ger- 
man papers there : 

"Comrades : 

"Again His Majesty, the all-honoured Kaiser Wilhelm II 
of Germany, has given further proof of his full recognition 
by presenting a magnificent flag to the Veterans' Club of 
Philadelphia, which will be presented, by order of His Maj- 
est}^ on October 31st, by the German consul, Herr Ritschl, 
in the Quartelle Club Hall, No. 2y2\-2y Germantown Avenue. 

"The Veterans' Club requests all comrades to take part 
in person on this, our honoured evening. 

"By commission of 

"Philip Zauner, 
- "President." 



230 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Besides these the German Emperor made a present 
of a captured bronze cannon to the German Soldiers' 
Ckib in Philadelphia. To the same club a monument 
has been dedicated by the veterans' and warriors' clubs 
of Germany, which represents a charging flag bearer 
in full war equipment. Those contributing most 
largely to the fund for the monument, which was 
designed by a Berlin sculptor, Albert Wolff, were the 
Emperor, the Grand Duke of Pless, as well as the 
Hamburg Senate, and also that of Bremen. 

The portraits of the Emperor and the princes are 
also very highly prized by the German soldiers' clubs. 
The Veterans of the German Army in San Francisco, 
California, sent a request to the Kaiser for his por- 
trait and that of his father and grandfather. The en- 
treaty was graciously accepted, and the portraits 
begged for were sent to the city of the Golden Gate, 
where they were presented on a festive occasion with 
an address by the consul general Rosenthal. 

Of great significance was the visit of the German 
cruiser division in the East American waters, with the 
object of establishing a political trade relationship be- 
tween the two countries, and which visited all the east 
American harbours from the most southern point of 
Florida as far north as Labrador. This visit, how- 
ever, was not alone profitable in establishing political 
trade relations, but more so by accentuating the good 
understanding between the Germans in the New 
World and those representatives of the old home who 
had come to them under the war flag of the German 
Empire. 

The visit of the cruiser Vineta in New Orleans, at 
the end of January, 1904, under the command of 
Captain Schroeder, proved an extraordinary event 
with which was connected a great celebration in hon- 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 231 

our of the Emperor's birthday. Professor Hanno 
Deiler, then president of the North American Singers' 
Society, was entrusted with the arrangements for the 
reception, and he sent the following announcement to 
all the societies belonging to the singers' club: 

"New Orleans, La., Jan. 15, 1904. 

"In a few days, on the 25th of January, Germany's entire 
American-West Indian squadron, composed of the four cruis- 
ers, Vineta, Panther, Gaccllc, and Falke, with about a thou- 
sand sailors, will arrive in New Orleans in order to celebrate 
there, on January 27th, the Kaiser's birthday. The German 
fleet has never before been in this part of the world in such 
strength, therefore we should make this visit a particularly 
festive one. 

"There have been a number of festivities planned, and the 
height will be reached on Thursday, the 28th of January, 
when a giant reception and ball will be held in the Wash- 
ington Artillery Hall. On this evening the writer, at the 
request of the German Central Committee, will greet the 
officers and men. The national president of the German 
Soldiers' Clubs will be there from St. Louis in order to greet 
the guests in the name of the Soldiers' Clubs of America. 

"According to my idea, it would be suitable if, on this 
occasion, I should also speak in the name of the German 
singers, whose representatives the New Orleans singers are, 
and it would be very opportune if the German singers of 
all the great cities of the country were to take part by send- 
ing telegrams of greeting. 

"The telegrams should be addressed to me (Hanno Deiler, 
2229 Bienville Avenue, New Orleans, La.), and should be 
in my hands on Thursday morning, January 28th. All tele- 
grams should have, besides the name of the sender, also his 
address in full, so that the Commodore (Schroeder) may, at 
a future time, answer them by letter. 

"You are herewith kindly requested to be responsible for 
the sending of a telegram from your city. 

"With sincere greetings, 

"Yours truly, 

"J. Hanno Deiler, 
"President of the North American Singing Societies." 

The societies, almost without exception, obeyed the 
request, only a few declined, among those the United 



232 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Singers of Detroit, who gave as an excuse for their 
refusal that many belonged to the society who wished 
to have no part in celebrating such monarchical prin- 
ciples, etc., and therefore these might become es- 
tranged from the singers' society, which was purely 
for the furtherance and in the interest of singing. 

From Cincinnati, Professor Deiler received the fol- 
lowing telegram: 

"Gathered together to celebrate the Emperor's birthday, 
the representatives of the German Societies of Cincinnati 
extend their warmest welcome to the German-West Indian 
fleet, which has just landed on Columbia's shores for the 
same purpose. 

"Carl Pollier, 
"German Consul." 



On the occasion of the visit of the gunboat Panther 
in the harbour of Galveston, there appeared the fol- 
lowing summons in the German papers in Texas : 

"german-texans^ forward ! 

"A great honour is about to be conferred upon Texas. A 
gunboat of the Imperial German fleet is going to visit Gal- 
veston harbour, a prerogative which never before has been 
the lot of a Texas harbour. 

"In nearly all German-American papers, for several days, 
has appeared a summons which apparently was inspired by 
Consul Bunge, who is stationed in Galveston, in which the 
German-Tcxans are summoned to give the German soldiers 
a worthy welcome. This proposal, it is to be hoped, will meet 
with hearty response. On such occasions as this which is 
before us there is aroused in all — whether born in Ger- 
many or brought up in America in the German spirit — a 
mighty power of love of the old Fatherland. 

"Former German soldiers, whose fate has brought them 
to Texas, should unite with Singers, Turners, Sons of Ar- 
minius, and all who revere the flag of Germanism, in a 
welcome to the Panther, and make it a brilliant affair. 

"The command is: Every one congregate!'' 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 233 

General Alfred von Lowenfeld, the Emperor's ad- 
jutant general, and Major Count von Schmettow, the 
Emperor's aide-de-camp, who were sent to Wash- 
ington as special agents of the Emperor for the un- 
veiling of the monument to "Old Fritz," had received 
the command from their head officer, so they told the 
reporters, to "look around thoroughly and send him a 
detailed report" while they were in the United States. 
And they did look around thoroughly and were every- 
where received as guests of honour of the German 
societies, and also visited Milwaukee, the most Ger- 
man city of the Union. There they reviewed, in full 
imiform, the parade of the German soldiers, who 
had turned out to a man, and General von Lowenfeld 
remarked in his address that he had received a spe- 
cial commission from his Majesty, the German Em- 
peror, to greet most heartily the German comrades in 
Milwaukee who had given such a warm reception to 
Prince Henry. In Milwaukee there stirs good Ger- 
man air, and the representatives of the Emperor saw 
by their audience that they would not be disappointed 
in their reception. 

This can be inferred from the following letter: 

"Chicago, Dec. 5, 1904. 
"Herr Max Hottelet, President of the German Soldiers' So- 
ciety of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis. : 
"The festivities for the reception of the two special envoys 
of His Majesty, the German Kaiser, have had so splendid 
and valuable an outcome that I, as representative of the 
German government, permit myself to express to you my 
most heart}^ thanks. Both officers expressed to me their 
pleasure over the fact that they were given the opportunity 
of seeing so many old German soldiers. 

"Most respectfully, 

"Wever, 
"Royal Consul." 



234 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

It may be mentioned in this place, that the societies 
of compatriots (Landsmann Vereine) likewise were 
the recipients of special attention on the part of the 
German princes. 

The Grand Duke of Hessen presented to the Chi- 
cago Hessian Society a beautiful flag and the Prince 
Regent of Bavaria followed his example when he, 
through the German consul, presented a flag to the 
Bavarian-American Society of Chicago as a '^symbol 
of his remembrance of the wandering sons of Ba- 
varia." 

The New York Hessian-Darmstadt Folk Festival 
Society received from the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig 
a magnificent streamer and a splendid portrait. 

Accompanying the picture of the Grand Duke was 
a letter from his cabinet to the head of the Society, 
which began as follows : 

"I beg to advise you, in reply to your petition sent 
to his Royal Highness the Grand Duke, that his all- 
high self has expressed himself as willing to present 
to you a streamer for your flag, in accordance with 
your wish, as well as an autographed picture as a 
decoration for the walls of your hall. Unfortunately, 
the streamer cannot be delivered in time for your Hes- 
sian-Darmstadt Folk Festival, for which his Royal 
Highness wishes success. The streamer will be made 
especially for you and sent when finished." 

The letter closes with the assurance that his Royal 
Highness prizes very highly the allegiance of the Hes- 
sian-Darmstaedters of New York to their old home 
and for that reason has not hesitated a moment to 
grant their wish. 

A really royal gift was that presented by the Prince 
Regent Luitpold of Bavaria to the Pfaelzer Folk Fes- 
tival Society of New York. It consisted of a portrait 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 235 

of the prince regent in a beautiful gold frame, and a 
streamer in the Bavarian national colours. The King 
of Bavaria, or the vice-gerent of the king, as is known, 
is palatinate count of the Rhine, and as such the prince 
regent dedicated the gift to his loyal compatriots from 
the left bank of the Rhine in a strange land, as the 
inscription states. The streamer, made of heavy silk, 
is a masterpiece of gold lace, and bears on its right 
side in golden letters the inscription, "From his Royal 
Highness the Prince Regent of Bavaria,*' and on the 
other side the words: "To the Pfaelzer Folk Fes- 
tival Society of New York, 1903." The loyal palat- 
inates, who at home had not for a long time been Ba- 
varians in the earlier sense, can be very proud of this 
princely gift. 

To the Murray Hill Society for the Aid of Sick 
Swabians in New York, the king of Wiirttemberg sent 
a banner and his picture in a pretty frame. 

The same monarch sent honourable recognition to 
the city librarian of Chicago, Herr E. F. L. Gausz, 
who had sent to his majesty the report of the Silver 
Jubilee of the Chicago "Schwaben-Verein," and a 
beautifully gotten up souvenir booklet of the same. 
In the answer, written by the private secretary of the 
king, there was the following: 

"The king has joyfully convinced himself, from the sou- 
venir, as well as from the newspaper reports, that the inner- 
most relations which bind the Swabians of Chicago to their 
fatherland have not ceased to flourish. He hopes that the 
cultivation of memories of the fatherland by the 'Schwaben- 
Verein' of Chicago will enliven this allegiance of the mem- 
bers to their old home for ever, and that it will build a bridge 
over space and time." 

Also the Constadt Folk Festival Society in Phila- 
delphia was blest with a picture of the king of Wiirt- 
temberg. 



236 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

To the extremely active professor, Dr. Carl Beck, 
head of the Union of Old German Students in Amer- 
ica, who made a specialty of naming German princes 
as honourary members of the Union and sunning him- 
self in the splendour of these princely members — 
whence arises the beautiful catch word, "Union Beck- 
ism" — came the following communication from the 
Grand Duke of Baden: 

''Most Esteemed Herr Professor Dr. Beck: 

"You have had the great goodness to send me a diploma 
which the Union of German Students in America has awarded 
me as an honourary member. I would Hke to tell you orally 
that I prize highly this election, and thank you most warmly. 
"The wash that I send you to-day is that you will be the 
bearer of my staunch and hearty thanks for the considera- 
tion shown me by your Society. May the Union bloom and 
succeed; and preserve for her members the memory of their 
beautiful student days in their old German home. 

"Yours devotedly, 

"Friederich, 
"Grand Duke of Baden. 
"Karlsruhe, Dec. 29, 1903." 

The Kaiser, as is well known, has established Wan- 
der prizes for the German singer clubs in the United 
States, in whose prosperity he takes a cordial interest. 
The Young Men's Chorus in Philadelphia, which won 
the Kaiser prize at the last contest, received the fol- 
lowing cable despatch: 

"Young Men's Chorus, 

President Arno Leonhardt, 
Philadelphia, Pa.: 
"To the victors in the battle of song, my congratulations. 
May the possession of my prize help to keep alive the al- 
legiance to the old home. 

"WiLHELM, I. R." 

The wooing of the German Empire and its official 
representatives in the United States for the friend- 



SOME SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS 237 

ship of those who, before the beginning of the Span- 
ish-American war, were branded as German rene- 
gades, must appear to disinterested bystanders — espe- 
cially Anglo-Americans — as in direct opposition to 
the policy which the German government practises in 
its own land toward foreign-speaking subjects. What 
would happen — I put the ciuestion as an example — if 
the king of Denmark, or the president of the French 
Republic, should present flags, through their official 
representatives, with inflaming inscriptions, to those 
who had once belonged to their country in North 
Schleswig and in Alsace-Lorraine? Or what would 
happen if the intransigent Danes in Schleswlg-Hol- 
stein, the French who look back with longing to the 
old French regime, were to send telegrams over the 
borders of the Empire to their former officials, assur- 
ing them of their undying fidelity and loyalty? What 
w^ould happen, I ask again, if, for example, the Poles 
in Berlin were to march through the streets in mass 
formation, carrying banners with the portraits of Po- 
lish national heroes, singing the song: ''Still is Po- 
land not forgotten"? 

I shudder when I think of the consequences of such 
actions, and yet at the bottom they would be no worse 
than what is happening at this time in America, and 
indeed with the help of the same government which 
is persecuting, in the most heartless manner, the Po- 
lish priests, editors, teachers and school children be- 
cause they will not give up their Polish mother tongue. 

In America there are also Danes, French and Poles 
who are just as good citizens of the Republic as are 
the Germans, and who, filled with a righteous hatred 
against the German Empire, miss no opportunity of 
calling the attention of the proper officials to the ex- 
traordinary difference in treatment the German gov- 



238 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

ernment gives its former subjects, now citizens of a 
foreign land, and her own subjects speaking an alien 
tongue in Germany. A young Dane who intensely 
hated the German Empire was the best friend of two 
employes of the German Embassy in Washington, and 
I can truly say they held no secrets from him. 



CHAPTER XXIV 



AND THE FUTURE, 



Danger of war between America and Germany. — Attitude of 
the German-Americans the one uncertain detail. — Five 
times in the last decade peace has hung on the knife's 
edge. — The Coghlan incident. — "Hoch der Kaiser." — "Hoch 
der President." — General McArthur's indiscretions. — "Our 
next war will be with Germany." — "Knight of the Black- 
White-Red Circle." — Outlook for a war unfavourable to 
the United States. — "Any war between Germany and the 
United States would be a civil war!" once said Herr von 
Holleben. — Did Prince Henry apologise? — Dewey declines 
an invitation to a return meeting with Prince Henry. — 
"I swear allegiance to the flag." 

Whoever has contemplated from afar for the past 
ten years the development of the relations between the 
United States and the German Empire, must come un- 
hesitatingly to two conclusions, namely, that both sides 
have earnestly calculated on the danger of war and 
are still reckoning on one, and that the attitude of 
the German-Americans constitutes the only uncertain 
force in case of such a conflict. The German Empire 
has founded its hopes on them, while the administra- 
tion in Washington regards their attitude with mis- 
giving.* 

Not alone has there been the possibility, but even 
an earnest danger, of war between the two countries 
not less than five times in the past ten years. 

Before Manila, when Dewey and Diedrichs cleared 

* Although printed in 1907, this reads as if written to-day. 

239 



240 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

their decks for action, the Americans sang that Hbel- 
ous poem, "Hoch der Kaiser" (''Me und Gott"), which 
later became celebrated all over the world at the time 
of the Coghlan affair. In consideration for the stir 
which was caused by this affair on both sides of the 
ocean, several verses of the poem may not be out of 
place here : 

HOCH DER KAISER 

Der Kaiser of die Fatherland 

Und God on high all dings command. 

Ve two — ach ! Don't you understand ? 
Myself— und Gott. 

Vile some men sing der power divine, 

Mein soldiers sing "Der Wacht am Rhein," 

And drink der health in a Rheinisch wine 
Of me — und Gott. 

In connection with these verses, I will give here 
a rather good anecdote of Coghlan and Roosevelt : 

While Rear-Admiral Coghlan was at Colorado 
Springs taking the cure, President Roosevelt arrived 
there on a hunting expedition. The two men met on 
the hotel veranda and the admiral approached the 
president to shake hands with him in good American 
style. 

Mr. Roosevelt looked at him searchingly a moment, 
and then turned to the next person. 

"Joe," said the admiral's wife, *'he did not recog- 
nise you. Go and tell him who you are." 

Obediently, the admiral returned to the president 
and said : 'T don't think that you remember me, Mr. 
Roosevelt." 

Again the president stared at him. Then a broad 
smile spread over his face. He struck the admiral 
heartily on the shoulder, at the same time exclaiming 
in a thunderous voice: 'Tloch der Kaiser!" 



AND— THE FUTURE? 241 

There was also an abusive poem written about 
Roosevelt at that time which has not had wide pub- 
licity. The author, who is known to me, has au- 
thorised me to print several verses from it, which I 
give below : 

HOCH DER PRESIDENT 

Der "Teddy" Roosevelt bin ich ja, 

Rauhreiter — President, 
In Deutschland und Amerika, 

Kin jedes Kind mich Kennt. 

Bin "Teddy" mit dem groszen M-und 

Der Held von San Juan 
Im Renommieren niemals faul — 

A true American. 

Der schonen Worte branch ich viel, 

Denn "talk ist cheap" im Land, 
"Fair play for all and a square deal" 

Fiir mich die — off'ne Hand. 

Die Deutschen hab'ich schrecklich gern, 

Zum fressen lieb ich sie, 
Jedoch, das ist des Pudels Kern, 

Kommt in die Quer' mir nie ! 

Verletzet nie Monroes Doctrin 

Sonst mach ich gleich mobil, 
Ich selbst ich sturme nach Berlin, 

Held Dewey dampft nach Kiel ! 

After the Dewey-Diedrichs episode there was fur- 
ther immediate danger of war at the time of the Sa- 
moan affair, when American and English cannons 
were aimed at the German man-of-war in the harbour 
of Apia. Again, at the time of the Holleben affair on 
the 1 2th of March, 1902, when a deadly insult was 
offered to the German Empire and its Ambassador on 
the day after the sailing of Prince Henry. At the 
time of the bombardment of the Venezuelan fort of 
San Carlo by German men-of-war, and finally at the 



242 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

time of the General McArthur affair, when this officer- 
declared in a speech at a military conference in Ha- 
waii that war with Germany was to be looked for in 
the near future. The indiscreet general expressed 
himself further on this same occasion to the effect 
that the pan-German movement which was fostered 
by Germany was spreading constantly further in 
America and already had led so far that during the 
Spanish-American war there were so few Germans in 
service in the army that the presence of a German 
attracted attention. Added to this, the German in- 
terests in South America have grown to such propor- 
tions that a war for the preservation of the Monroe 
Doctrine is unavoidable. In case of such a war, Ha- 
waii would be a very important strategical point, as 
the Germans would first have to conquer it before they 
would be able to make an attack on the Pacific coast 
of the United States. 

There has been considerably less of the war cry 
since Baron Spec von Sternburg, the intimate friend 
and favourite of the president, has replaced the un- 
pleasant and much-disliked Ambassador von Holleben, 
a change which was a master stroke of shirt-sleeve 
diplomacy on the part of Roosevelt. 

A bolt has been shoved across the mouths of the 
gossips, to be sure, in order that the war idea might 
not be hindered, which is constantly increasing in 
ever-spreading circles. 

A well-known Anglo-American publisher, who has 
been active on important missions to Washington, as 
also to London, in the Philippines as well as in East 
Asia, and who enjoys the confidence of the White 
House, the State Department and the British Em- 
bassy, explained to me a few years ago the facts with- 
out reserve. 



AND— THE FUTURE? 243 

"Why make a mystery of the affair?" he remarked. 
"We all know, each one who is associated with the of- 
ficial circles of Washington knows it. Our next war 
will be with Germany!" 

The danger of war between America and the Ger- 
man Empire was born in that moment when the 
United States, at the time of the purchase of the 
Philippines, deviated from the path of its former pol- 
icy, laid down by Washington and Monroe, of not 
mixing in affairs foreign to America, and began an 
adventurous and imperialistic policy which sooner or 
later must result in an unfriendly conflict with one or 
the other of the European powers which has the same 
desires. The names of Manila, Samoa, and Vene- 
zuela are sufficient to prove the truth of this statement. 

In Washington one is very distrustful of every- 
thing. It seems to be in the very atmosphere there. 
Most of the middle and South American revolutions 
are hatched there. I remember the birth of the Re- 
public of Panama, which was arranged even to the 
smallest details beforehand. 

What was possible then may again be repeated is 
the general opinion, and not without a sinking of the 
heart does one follow the comings and goings of the 
special envoys of the Emperor, their enthusiastic re- 
ception by the German population of the United 
States, the festive dedications of the Emperor's flag in 
the German colours, with the inscription, "With God, 
for Kaiser and Empire," and the sending of telegrams 
of homage by old German veterans to their former 
war lords. 

One can hardly blame the administration in Wash- 
ington if it has become nervous and sees black, and 
believes in the possibility of the existence of a society 
of the Knights of the Black- White-Red Circle, who 



- r" li.«4 i^iii**'- - ''-^- ''JVCL 



—*-»_- jji 



v^: 




of the decIarancG •:£ f- -- - - 

— =<:• nms die Americi-- 

naaire in China, in. Venezireis, chl 

will not believe thai anj 5eLi-resper 

accept the deepest hnmiliaiicns an 

thinking' of sarisfactioiL CouLd one nnag-jie a worse 

insult and hnmiliaricn than the :'''! ^---":' : "^:- ^ ■'""!- 

ment which appeared in the .-_ 

PRZS"CE: HZ20LT ~ A.- itADE ..- _._--^.^-_ :. .^MTR.Ar. ZTE-v'-'- 

The Aifmral takes rhe diqht to tfte Untired Sanies m ^ 

Br-eireii. Fecmarj i:rtrL — Seinre Frincs Henr- 'ef^ -jit 

-lis trip ro Am:erica ire iad an imrerview -;v~:cfi a ir 

±Le Assccia^ed r-'-'ss is :: ±e rrvc" £::.: ':_ fo: 

a letter to Acmir;. . ie 

:f :he Gerniatr sc.._-J-.. , "c 
5 ;.-:i5h-Aiiieric-irL "^"ar. 

■- .:.r.'T -'c'"-:- •- H" lite "\v- --_-. _ - . 



The _ij^j^: 
tic source ar 



The A. 

the Amenc;!^ F:iuj.<^:. j.: Fv. 
counted the text ei a convex; 

the prince at a dinner gr-'' - -■- AiiiiLj«k>ssii*i*ir 

hac :■ . - - i- 

ron 111 V / ^ :a 

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time was tax mere i*i»Oiii:yui}i^ ^aice^ 
Sra^fs. as* 

the ^ - 

to make crouole. In , . . :e 



246 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

Deutschland, my flagship, on which occasion Admiral Dewey 
was the oldest officer present; besides him were two Rus- 
sians, an Englishman, as well as officers of other nationali- 
ties, whose names I am now unable to recall. I first drank 
to the health of the Czar, then to that of the other princes, 
and last to that of the President of the United States. Dewey 
was offended, as I learned the next day, and I perceived that 
I had made a great mistake. I at once went on board the 
Olympia and spoke with Dewey, who accepted my apologies 
in good part." 

The prince added that he well knew that Germany had 
been in the wrong, but that his relations with Admiral 
Dewey were at the present time of the very best. He sent 
Admiral Dewey the assurances of his highest esteem, and 
expressed at the same time his sincere hope that he would 
meet him again during his visit to America. 



At the same time with this assurance from Prince 
Henry of Prussia that his relationship with Dewey 
was on the most pleasant and friendly footing there 
appeared an article in the Associated Press which 
showed an exchange of telegrams between Admiral 
Dewey and Ambassador von Holleben, which ran as 
follows : 

DEWEY REFUSES INVITATION TO DINE 
WITH PRINCE HENRY 

HE INFORMS AMBASSADOR VON HOLLEBEN 

THAT MRS. DEWEY IS TOO ILL 

FOR HIM TO LEAVE HER 

Palm Beach, Fla., February 17th. — 
Admiral Dewey received to-day the fol- 
lowing telegram from Washington: 

''Will you dine with me on February 
28th, at 7.30, and have the honour of 
meeting His Royal Highness Prince 
Henry of Prussia? 

"Holleben, 
"Imperial German Ambassador." 

Admiral Dewey sends the following 
answer : 



AND— THE FUTURE? 247 

"I regret most heartily not to be 
able to accept your invitation to dinner 
and once more to have the honour of 
meeting Prince Henry of Prussia, but 
Mrs. Dewey is too ill for me to be able 
to leave her alone. 

"George Dewey, 
"Admiral U. S. Navy." 

Is one to blame the American statesmen, I repeat, 
if they are not able to believe in the genuineness of 
the German assurances of their friendship? 

Those persons who are anxious to fill their pockets 
by fishing in troubled waters, and to whom a serious 
disruption between the two countries offers a golden 
opportunity, are preparing an Incalculable and there- 
fore extremely dangerous period. A great number of 
men, of whose existence no one has formerly been 
aware, have seen in the movement toward Germanism 
in the United States a fruitful field for their peculiar 
talents. ''Vain professors," journalists whose pens 
are always at the service of the highest bidders, beer 
sellers and beer brewers, lawyers, doctors without 
practice, politicians who have never done a stroke 
of honest work — all these feel that the time has come 
to play the part of saviours of Germanism, and to 
draw on the ever-filled crib and never-drained secret 
fund. Not ideal, but rather very materialistic, are 
the motives of those secret letter-writers, those dark 
"men of honour" who change their opinions at will, 
and whose business is the systematic misleading and 
deception of the masses. But, happily for the peace 
and freedom of both peoples, there are limits to what 
they can accomplish. 

It is a sad truth, but no clear-thinking person can 
escape from perceiving that the movement in America 
toward Germanism will come to an end in the natural 



248 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

course of things. The sooner one comes to this con- 
clusion and finds the courage to acknowledge it, the 
better it will be for the world peace. Let us hear 
what is said about the future of Germanism from a 
thoroughly unprejudiced observer. I give the follow- 
ing from a report of the German-American School 
Society of New York: 

''Having returned about a month ago from a lengthy stay 
in the West, I discovered, after thorough investigation, that 
there, as well as here, the preservation of the German lan- 
guage stands on very weak legs. The German schools have 
vanished from the map. The introduction and preservation 
of the instruction of German in the public schools is con- 
stantly being met with difficulties, and, if all signs do not 
fail, the end of the instruction of German in the public 
schools is not far off. That would indicate that, aside from 
single instances where the German Michel has had his pro- 
testing mouth stopped with crumbs, the result of a ten-year 
struggle has equalled nil, while the indifference of German- 
Americans in many instances has not been possible to over- 
come through intelligence. 

"The greatest evil, however, is the dislike of the German 
parent to cultivate the mother tongue in the family." 

I can confirm the truth of this statement from my 
own experience. Though my wife and I, during 
our stay in America, spoke only German, it was per- 
fectly impossible to make the children do so. They 
understood every word we addressed to them, but 
always replied in English. The growing youth he- 
longs to the future, and this youth is, in its thinking, 
feeling and speaking, American. The worst enemy 
of the German movement in the United States is the 
American public school, which is in every way excel- 
lent, and where the foreigii-born children are taught 
from the first day of their entrance to love the Amer- 
ican flag. In the public schools of the larger cities, 
with their large proportion of foreign peoples, the flag 



AND— THE FUTURE? 249 

is every day unfurled, and day after day they must 
repeat the solemn oath of fidelity : ''I swear allegiance 
to the flag, and the country for which it stands." 

There is only one way to prevent a war between 
the German Empire and the United States, of which 
the danger is imminent and close at hand; and that 
is to tear away the mask from the faces of those dark 
trouble-makers who are fishing in troubled waters, 
who are not alone to be found on the American side, 
and expose them in their true light, without pity. 
Also, a more decided attitude of the government in 
Berlin toward the ''man with the big stick" would 
materially assist in keeping the peace. "Words are 
only good if backed up by deeds," the rough-rider 
President said on one occasion, and that should not be 
forgotten in Wilhelmstrasse. 



CHAPTER XXV 

SHALL I BE VINDICATED — ^? 

My battle for an investigation. — A model citizen's curious 
legal opinion. — Richard Bartholdt in a double role. — Why 
the Democrats lost their last presidential campaign. — A 
letter from the former American Ambassador in Berlin, 
Andrew D. White. — A summons in the New York Volks- 
zeitung resounds unheard. — My health hopelessly ruined by 
endless persecution. — Diagnosis of two American medical 
authorities. — Return to Germany. — Am I the victim of a 
colossal official mistake? — My last petition to the Foreign 
Office. — A declaration by Pastor Dr. O. Frommel. — What 
will be the outcome? 

Herr von Holleben had left his position under more 
disgraceful circumstances than had ever any ambas- 
sador before, but the incident of March 12, 1902, 
into which, against my knowledge and will, I had 
been drawn, still remained unexplained. It was for 
me a life interest, a necessity of existence, to bring 
about an official inquiry into the affair, upon which 
my future and that of my family depended. In an- 
other place I have already related how, in the suit 
for libel which I had brought against the publisher of 
the Grosz New Yorker Zeitung justice had been dis- 
torted and I had been forced through false testimony, 
gathered in Germany, as well as the threat of losing 
my position, to withdraw my case; I have given con- 
sideration also to the remarkable outcome of the libel 
suit brought by the New York Herald against three 
Berlin dailies, and shown what mighty secret influ- 

250 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 251 

ences were summoned to prevent my appearing as a 
witness in the case. Would it be possible for me, 
without friends or means, to bring about an investi- 
gation ? 

In spite of my unhappy experiences I had not lost 
faith in right and justice. I turned to Arthur von 
Briesen, the head of the Legal Aid Society, whom 
President Roosevelt had called a ''model German- 
American citizen," and implored his assistance. After 
Herr von Briesen had corresponded with Washing- 
ton, I received from him the crushing reply that who- 
ever dared to place himself between two opposing 
forces must expect to be mutilated by them. I had 
to submit without question to my fate. This decision 
came from the mouth of the president of a Legal 
Aid Society, the very man who had appeared as ac- 
cuser of Carl Schurz and charged him with selling 
himself to the politics of the highest bidding party. 
Indeed a "model German- American citizen" after the 
heart of President Roosevelt I 

At the time of the last presidential election, I begged 
Richard Bartholdt, the German Republican member 
of Congress from St. Louis, to use his not insignifi- 
cant influence in Washington for the securing of an 
investigation. Herr Bartholdt, without hesitation, 
gave me a letter to George B. Cortelyou, the present 
postmaster general of the United States, who had 
been private secretary to McKinley and Roosevelt, 
and who at that time was entrusted with the manage- 
ment of the Republican campaign. The letter read: 

"Herr Witte has placed before me briefly a circumstance 
which, in my opinion, deserves that you order an investiga- 
tion. He asked me to lay the matter before the President, 
but this was impossible for me, on account of my business 



252 REVELATIONS OF A GER^IAN ATTACHE 

burdens. Herr Witte pleads for fair play, and is entitled to 
it, as I look upon the matter." 

As Joseph \A'inter, secretary of the German Roose- 
velt League, who was personally acquainted with the 
President and had repeatedly been his guest, told me 
later, IMr. Cortelyou was inclined at the beginning 
to comply with the wish of Herr Bartholdt, but again 
mighty secret influences were set moving W'hich broke 
him of? from his intention. 

Herr Richard Bartholdt, who since has become sena- 
tor for Missouri — no mean performance for a one-time 
German typesetter's apprentice and simple reporter on 
the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung — played in the affair 
a most lamentable role, which agreed fully with the 
picture which I had formed of him at the Embassy, 
where he was well known, on the basis of confidential 
advices. The story was, so my official informant, S-sz, 
told me, that Herr Bartholdt had played the role of 
go-betw^een for the banking house of S. Bleichroeder 
and United States Senator Wolcott in a gigantic busi- 
ness transaction which had completely altered the en- 
tire silver question, and had received a pretty remu- 
neration. The gradual increase in the price of silver, 
noticeable since that time, is a direct result of that 
transaction ! 

Toward the end of the present campaign the private 
secretary of one of the chiefs of the Democratic party 
called upon me at my home and endeavoured to induce 
me to publish a statement regarding the incident of 
March 12, 1902. I was not disinclined, but made 
the stipulation that the Democratic party on its side 
must give me a binding assurance of an investigation. 
The next morning, November i, 1904, the New York 
Staafs-Zeitiing published the following article: 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 253 

WHAT WILL IT BE? 

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE PROMISES 
A SURPRISE 

CURIOSITY WILL BE GRATIFIED TO-MORROW- 
MURPHY PROMISES MORE THAN 
139,000 PLURALITY 

SOMETHING STARTLING IN STORE— SECRETARY 
WOODSON OF THE NATIONAL COM- 
MITTEE PROPHESIES IT 

Secretary Ury Woodson of the Democratic National Com- 
mittee, who believes implicitly in the election of Parker and 
Davis, stated yesterday that something would happen that 
would throw great consternation into the Republican camp. 
He would not say anything further. 

''We know definitely," he added, "that Parker will be 
elected, and the Republicans as well will know it to-morrow." 
People in the headquarters began to rack their brains over 
this mysterious statement, and finally they came to the con- 
clusion that Campaign Manager Taggart would return to- 
morrow and bring a lot of favourable news. But later this 
solution of the question was discarded, for advice came by 
telephone from Mr. Taggart that he would remain in Indi- 
ana, and not return to New York until probably the end of 
the week. 

The expected great surprise never occurred. The 
entire country was in the tensest condition and waited 
with impatience for the disclosures which were going 
to throw the Republicans into confusion. But nothing 
happened, and Judge Parker suffered one of the most 
disastrous defeats that ever happened to a Democratic 
presidential candidate. 

Here Is the Riddle's Answer: 

It had been intended to bring to the knowledge of 
the people of the United States the history of the 
March 12th, 1902, incident, with all its ramifications 
and with a plain statement of names of the persons 
responsible for it, and by this means at the psycho- 



254 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

logical moment, to bring about a general revolution 
among the voters, especially the Germans, for the 
benefit of Parker. How it came about that the her- 
alded surprise never came, possibly Herr Hermann 
Ridder, publisher of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, 
who later was received in audience by the German 
Kaiser, and his trusty henchman, Georg von Skal, 
in whose hands lay the management of the German- 
Democratic campaign, know an explanation. But 
again the hoodoo character of the New Yorker Staats- 
Zeitung, which brings misfortune to every candidate 
it supports, was proven. 

When the Democrats, after the end of the cam- 
paign, set themselves to hunt up the cause of their 
defeat, many voices were raised which charged be- 
trayal in their own camp and accused the leaders of 
having sold the party out to the Republicans. 

Still I would not resign hope of securing an investi- 
gation. I resorted, with a detailed exposition of the 
circumstances, to the former American Ambassador 
in Berlin, Andrew D. White, who at that time was 
publishing his German reminiscences, and begged him 
for advice and help in my affair. Mr. Andrew D. 
White, who bore the name of a just and benevolent 
man, answered me from Ithaca, N. Y. : 

"I think that if your case is laid before the Secretary of 
State for Foreign Affairs in Berlin, Baron von Richthofen, 
who always appeared to me one of the fairest and broadest- 
minded of men, it will receive adequate attention." 

In its number of January 24, 1906, the New York 
Volkszeitung, the only honourable and independent 
German newspaper in the metropolis on the Hudson, 
published an appeal in which I called upon all honour- 
able and independent German papers, on both sides of 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 255 

the ocean, in the interest of right and justice, to de- 
mand an investigation of my case. The appeal was 
vain. 

Somewhat later I sent from Wilmington, Delaware, 
where I had settled with my family, a letter to Secre- 
tary of State von Tschirschky, the successor of the 
meanwhile deceased Herr von Richthofen, with an 
appeal for an investigation. This communication re- 
mained tinanswered. 

In Wilmington I encountered another blow. I had 
intended to publish a weekly, which should meet the 
needs of old and young, that is, both German-born 
and the American-born German-American, and there- 
fore should appear in both English and German. The 
business men of the city received the idea cordially 
and co-operated with me most liberally, so that the 
undertaking from the very start seemed to rest upon 
an assured foundation. The first number of my paper, 
which was to be called The German- American Citizen, 
was to see the light of day on the Saturday before 
Easter, and was already about half completed. Then, 
exactly one week before the stipulated day, appeared 
the first number of another paper with the same title, 
as publisher of which was given the name of A. D. 
Jacobson, an unpopular, well-known journalist in 
Wilmington. The man had appropriated the name 
and plan of my paper, and under the pretence that it 
was identical with my undertaking had gone to the 
business people of the city, who did not hesitate to 
hand over to him the advertisements intended for my 
publication. In carrying out this manoeuvre he showed 
a mass of letters which the ambassador, Herr von 
Sternburg, had written to him personally, who evi- 
dently was his best friend and had assured him of the 
Embassy's support. I acquainted Herr von Stern- 



256 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

bnrg with the facts, published in the Wilmington Eng- 
lish press an explanation why I had desisted from 
my plan, and betook myself with my family to Balti- 
more. 

There my sight suddenly began to fail so rapidly 
that I consulted two eminent specialists of the Uni- 
versity of Maryland, Dr. William Tarun and Dr. 
Irving Spear, who gave me a thorough examination 
and told me I was afflicted with an incurable disease 
of the spine, locomotor ataxia, induced by mental 
strain and excitement, which would gradually lead to 
total blindness and paralysis of the body. Now, for 
the first time, I received an explanation of the sudden 
weakening of my sight which had so disturbed me. 
My right eye was already blind, without my having 
known it. 

That was for me a terrible discovery. For the 
first time in all the long terrible years of suffering I 
broke down and wept bitter tears. . . . 

Since it was impossible for me to secure justice in 
America, I boarded ship for Germany, with my family, 
at the end of May, 1906. A few days before my 
departure a number of important papers were stolen 
from me by a woman whom, on account of her posi- 
tion, I had considered wholly trustworthy, and who 
had been connected secretly with Washington, with 
the portentous warning to demand an investigation 
of my affair in Germany. 

Sick and penurious as I was, I gave up the idea 
of following the advice of Herr Reinhold Ortmann, 
the new editor-in-chief of the Baltimore Deiitscher 
Korrespondcnt, to have the thief arrested and to 
resort to law. I had had enough of American 
justice. 

At the beginning of June we arrived in the old 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 257 

home. Strengthened and improved by the sea voyage, 
I renewed without delay the battle for an investiga- 
tion. I informed Herr von Tschirschky, Secretary of 
State for Foreign Affairs, of my return, and placed 
myself at the disposal of the Foreign Office. 

My next step was directed toward finding the ad- 
dress of the former German Embassy chaplain in 
Rome, Pastor Dr. Otto Frommel. After many at- 
tempts my efforts were crowned with success. A 
woman member of the Order of the High Eagle had 
the kindness to advise me that Herr Dr. Otto Frommel 
was located at Gera, Russia. Enclosing photographs, 
my wife wrote a letter to the clergyman on February 
18, 1907, in which she laid before him the repeated 
crying injustice to us, and called upon him as a Ger- 
man, as a Christian, and as bearer of the name of 
Frommel, to honour the truth. In reply to this letter 
came the following telegram from Gera on Feb- 
ruary 19th: 

"Your letter to-day. Deplore deeply victim of grave offi- 
cial mistake. Disclaim on my part any responsibility, since I, 
requested by American consul, deposed concerning certain 
Georg Witt, never regarding your husband, unknown to me. 
Further by letter. 

"Frommel." 

As a loyal German, Dr Frommel could call it only 
a "grave official mistake." Was it only a grave offi- 
cial mistake, or was it more than that? 

On the next day Herr Pastor Frommel arrived at 
my house in person. He was extremely agitated that 
they had drawn him, an evangelical clergyman, into 
so shameful an intrigue, and had secured from, him a 
declaration on oath under false pretences, in order, 
with their help, to destroy an innocent man and his 
family. He promised to do everything in his power 



258 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

to repair the injustice to me and to assist me to my 
rights. In further pursuance of the affair, I secured 
from the Royal Pohce Headquarters in Beriin an 
official certificate that I had been a resident of Beriin 
in the years 1892 and 1893. I received this, as well 
as a statement from Herr Frommel, and in possession 
of these documents turned with the following petition 
to Herr von Tschirschky : 

"Charlottenburg, May 24, 1907. 
"Tegeler-Weg 103. 
"To the Secretary of the Foreign Office, Berlin. 
"Your excellency: 

"1 take the liberty of addressing you most respectfully as 
follows : 

"I. In March, 1902, the press, among others the Frank- 
furter Zeitung of the 13th, and the Berliner Tagehlatt of 
March 14th, published the following identical despatch from 
New York: 

" 'The German Embassy declares Witte threatened to mur- 
der von Holleben.' 

"II. In a libel suit against the Gross-New Yorker Zei- 
tung, in 1902, that paper secured evidence against me from 
the Foreign Office, either from organs or persons connected 
therewith. Especially did my opponents turn, by means 
of the former German consul at Rome, Herr Nast-Kolb, to 
the former chaplain of the Imperial Embassy at Rome, Herr 
Pastor Dr. Frommel, now in Gera. 

"Writings by Herr Director Mayer, of the Mergenthaler 
Linotype Machine Company, part owner of the New York 
paper, under date of Berlin, Chauseestrasze 17-18, May 12, 
1902, and by his counsel May 21, 1902, as well as other let- 
ters which support my claims, are in my possession. 

"The purpose was to secure from Dr. Frommel material 
regarding a certain 'Gcorg Witt, alias Emil Witt or Witte,' 
who, from July, 1892, to early 1893, i^i Rome, as private 
secretary to Herr Nast-Kolb, had committed various swin- 
dles, and to use this material against me by identifying me 
with that swindler. 

"This purpose succeeded completely. I declare further : 

"To I. The statement that I threatened to murder the 
German ambassador to America, Herr von Holleben, is 

"A fabrication out of thin air. 

"The falseness of this accusation, for which proof was 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 259 

never sought, is self-evident from the lack of any proceed- 
ings against me. 

"To II. I am not identical with the swindler, Georg Witt, 
who plied his confidence games in Rome from July, 1892, to 
early 1893. 

'This is self-evident from the attached certificate of the 
Royal Police Headquarters, of March 9, 1907, according to 
which I, returning from London, am reported as a renter 
at Puttkammerstrasze 14, Berlin, from August 22d, 1892, 
until my removal to Charlottenburg, October i, 1893. 

"But, above all, is every doubt that I have been the pitiable 
victim of a confusion of persons removed by the herewith 
submitted trustworthy declaration by Herr Pastor Doctor 
Frommel, of April 12, 1907, which likewise contains many 
consistent circumstances. 

"The results of this monstrous mistake were the most seri- 
ous impairment of my health and my professional progress, 
and the ruin of my life. Branded by the calumnious rumour, 
burdened with the curse of a swindler's past, who, in addi- 
tion, planned to attack the German Ambassador, I found all 
doors for practice of my profession closed, for I encoun- 
tered everywhere suspicion or mistrust. The frightful need 
into which I, with my large family, fell under such a burden, 
united itself with the tense agitation of years of vain battling 
against the fateful slander, the source of which I could not 
discover, and which agitated me all the more terribly and 
brought me all the nearer to despair, in that I, despite knowl- 
edge of my innocence, was unable to grapple with the con- 
victing, apparently unanswerable, and unopposed evidence. 
All these frightful strains brought upon me an incurable 
nervous disease, locomotor ataxia, which has already resulted 
in total blindness of my right eye, a serious danger to and 
great weakening of sight in my left eye, and the partial pa- 
ralysis of my limbs, a further serious handicap to my profes- 
sional work. 

"Under such terribly effective wrong, I consider justified 
my claim to amends, and believe I may beg the assistance 
of the officials who were drawn into the affair. It is not, in 
my opinion, a question of abstract implication of certain 
organs ; I desist, therefore, from following up and substanti- 
ating the proof at hand. The actual participation suffices. 
Whoever has acted in good faith, actually considering me 
identical with the swindler Witt, with former Consul Herr 
Nast-Kolb, in Rome, or whoever has been the innocent cause 
of the calumny in that his name was used without denial 
as basis for the accusation that I threatened Herr von Holle- 



26o RE\T:LATI0XS of a GERMAN ATTACHE 

ben with murder, cannot, in my opinion, free himself of tlie 
duty on his part to withdraw or to discredit the equally mon- 
strous and false charges brought against me, and on his part 
also to support me in my rightful battle for justice and the 
repair of my sorely injured name. 

"After unspeakable endeavours in the battle for my rights, 
I have succeeded at last in clearing up the case, in coming 
upon the trail of the source and context of the frightful 
suspicions raised against me in spite of my innocence, and in 
finding the needed proofs. My earlier petitions in this affair, 
dated March 5. 1906, Jan. 21 and Feb. 18, 1907, your excel- 
lency has not answered; only in reply to my request of April 
17, 1907. for return of the statement enclosed with my peti- 
tion of March 5th. which the former American ambassador 
in Berlin. Mr. Andrew D. White, had sent to me in good will, 
I received this statement back by the Bureau note of April 
22, 1907. 

"Again I direct to your excellency the urgent, pressing 
appeal to please to order an investigation and clearing up of 
the dire attacks and charges directed af me. and not to block 
me from justice. Should groimds exist for the assumption 
that I threatened Herr von Holleben with murder, then I 
believe I may beg submission of the supposed proofs or evi- 
dence. In the other event, I believe myself justified in the 
expectation that from the proper source an explunution will 
be given out declaring either that the German Embass}', 
the supposed originator of the report, was not connected 
with the hitherto undenied representations in the press, or 
else now pronounces untrue the allegations it made. 

"Should your excellency desire any further explanation 
from me, I beg for opportunit}' to submit it most willingly. 
On the other hand, I believe, considering the hea^-^^ and 
for me so calamitous sickness and injurs* of which I have 
been the injiocent victim for so many years, that I may 
express the most humble prayer for utmost hastening of 
my case. 

"I earnestly beg your excellency* to please to vouchsafe me 
the desen-ed justice and not to drive me to utter despair. 
**A'our excellency's 

"Most respectful 

"E. WiTTZ." 

ENCLOSURE I 

"Royal Police Headquarters. 1 

"By order of the ist instant, it is certified herewith, for 
submission to the Imperial Chancellor and the Foreign Office, 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 261 

for the purpose of proof of identity with official confirma- 
tion, that the writer, Emil Witte, born in Wollin, March 14, 
1864, returning from London, is reported as renter at Putt- 
kammerstrasze 14, this city, from August 22, 1892, until his 
removal to Charlottenburg, Oct. i, 1893. A registry sheet 
of a second person of the same name, living at the said 
address in the said period, is not reported. Witte resides, 
at present, according to his own statement, in Charlottenburg, 
Tegeler-Weg, 103. 

''Berlin, March 9, 1907. 

"Office of Residence Registration, Royal Police Head- 
quarters. 

''Certificate 1743. E. '07. L. S." 



ENCLOSURE II 



'Gera, Russia, 

"April 12, 1907. 



DECLARATION 



"At the instance of the American consul in Leipzig, I 
made a deposition in the interests of the truth during the sum- 
mer of 1902, before the consul at that place, regarding my 
experiences when I was chaplain at the Imperial Embassy 
at Rome, with the swindler, 'Dr.' Georg Witt, who was 
carrying on his work from July, 1892, to August, 1893, in 
that city. I was asked for my deposition on the totally 
erroneous assumption that the aforesaid Witt and the writer 
Emil Witte, former journalist in America, and now of Char- 
lottenburg, Tegeler-Weg, 103, were one and the same person. 
I now declare, upon actual sight, as well as upon official 
information, that Herr Emil Witte is not and cannot be the 
same as Georg Witt. This fact should have been self- 
evident, without further ado, moreover, to the persons inter- 
ested in the case of Emil Witte vs. the New Yorker Zeitung 
Publishing and Printing Company, since, on the wish of the 
American consul at Leipzig, I submitted to these persons a 
photograph of the swindler Witt, with his autograph and 
several other letters which related to him. These documents, 
in the highest degree important for the clearing of the 
writer, Emil Witte, are still, it seems, in the possession of 
Mr. Thomas F. Smith, clerk of the city court of the city of 
New York, to whom they had been sent through the American 
consul in Leipzig. In spite of a promise that after comple- 
tion of the case they would be returned, and in spite of 



2^ REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

personal efforts, it has been impossible for me to regain 
possession of my property. 

"Dr. O. Frommel, 
"Pastor, former chaplain of the Imperial Embassy." 

"That the signature of Herr Dr. O. Frommel, Former 
Imperial Embassy Chaplain at Rome, herein contained, is 
genuine, is hereby certified, at the wish of the aforesaid 
gentleman. 

"Etzold, pastor. 

"Gera, April 12, 1907." 

After a few weeks I received the following answer : 

"L. S., Foreign Office: 
"2 Enclosures. 
"Your honour will find in the enclosures the documents 
forwarded with your esteemed communication of 3.1ay 24th 
to the Herr State Secretary of the Foreign Office. 

(Xo signature). 
"Berlin, June 19, 1907. 
"To Hon. Herr E. Witte, Charlottenburg. 
"Official Business." 

After my earlier experiences I had expected no 
other answer and could not expect one. Since the 
Foreign Office simply acknowledged the receipt of 
my letter and without further comment returned the 
enclosed documents, it assimied the full responsibility 
for treatment of its servant never equaled before in 
the history of a civilised state, treatment which to 
qualify adequately I can find no parliamentary ex- 
pression. 

There remained for me in the circumstances noth- 
ing else than to turn to the public, and in this direc- 
tion to address 

'An earnest appeal to the Germun and 'American 
peoples, 



SHALL I BE VINDICATED—? 263 

and to ask them to lend me a hand in securing an 
explanation of the incident of March 12, 1902, and 
its attendant circumstances. The peace and welfare 
of both great peoples are endangered to the uttermost 
by the brainless actions of such honourables as those 
stripped naked in this book; and both related peoples 
have therefore a deep interest in the final securing of 
the investigation which has been sought by me for 
years. 

It would be sad indeed for the foundations of our 
entire public life if the state, which robbed me of 
honour and health, which ruined my economic ex- 
istence, should deny me the right of an investigation. 
Yet still I hold fast to the belief which filled the 
Prussian people in the time of Frederick the Great 
and to which not long ago, as I have related in these 
pages, an American paper gave expression : 

''Es gibt Richter in Berlin T (There are judges in 
Berlin.) 

How like the wrath of Heaven comes the fate 
which has smitten most of the actors of the German- 
American drama which I have unfolded : 

Herr von Holleben forced, under disgraceful cir- 
cumstances, to leave the United States; Carl Biinz, 
the German Consul General in New York, twice under 
the operating knife and close to death; a German 
journalist who slandered me murdered in iMorocco; 
the traitorous American secret-service agent Peeke 
sentenced to five years in the penitentiary; Paul 
Haedicke dead before his time; likewise the Washing- 
ton correspondent, Habercorn, who, in company with 
Haediche, had worked for my ruin ; passed away also 
F. W. Holls, intimate friend of von Holleben and 
Miinsterberg, who threatened the most horrible things 



264 REVELATIONS OF A GERMAN ATTACHE 

against me, because I demanded my rights; passed 
away also Baron von Richthofen, to whose sense of 
justice I had appealed in vain! 
What will be the end? 



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